Exactly a year ago – in the very first post on sesner.com – I announced my resolution of not buying any sneakers in 2016. Still, some great shoes found their way to me over the course of the year. What happened?
To cut to the chase: At the end of the year, I did purchase a pair of sneakers. But until then, the baskets remained empty, I even downsized my collection – a profit for all involved. And still, some pairs snuck in. A seeding here, a present or a trade there. You know.
Concepts x New Balance 997 “Luxury Goods”
Let’s start with a swap which bestowed me with one of my all time grails: The 997 in orange suede and leather from Boston’s Concepts store. Such a great shoe. The elegant shape, the great wearing comfort, and those colors! The light grey of the sole really rounds things out nicely. Even if the shoe was released in 2015 already and I got the notion that the hype around Concepts and New Balance in 2016 wasn’t as big as in previous years – the Luxury Goods remains one of my sneaker highlights of the year. Click here for more.
Adidas NMD City Sock Primeknit
2016 was very much a Three Stripes year. Yeezy, Ultraboost and the old Gazelle were omnipresent in the relevant media, in the end even business magazines wrote about the high-flying German company. But one Adidas model that stepped onto the scene early this year totally stole the spotlight: Suddenly, the NMD was virtually everywhere – which is why I initially shyed away. But in the end, I wore the NMD City Sock on my feet and had to admit that it was a real sneaker highlight for me as well! Click here for more.
Reebok Club C 85
But my absolute sneaker highlight in 2016 came in the form of one of the probably most unspectacular, least limited and definitely most inexpensive general releases of the year: The creamy coloured Club C 85, which arrived just in time for my interview with Kendrick Lamar, has since become the shoe I have worn most in everyday life. The leather is wonderfully soft, the shoe is comfy, not too padded and endures everything – just right for a young father. Certainly not the last Club C I will wear – and buy, too.
And if only because I can, again. In hindsight, I feel that my consumption-critical year – besides no sneakers, I hardly bought any clothes – turned out very pleasant and in the future I will keep trying to buy only the most necessary and most important things. But those dark-green Nike Flyknit Racers that appeared in december and go great with camo clothes – they had to be mine. After all, what’s a resolution if it isn’t broken at some point?!