Sneaker resale platform StockX has unveiled its latest annual Big Facts: 2023 Trends report, giving an insight into what’s popular in the sneaker market this year. Retro Adidas styles and character-inspired Crocs are among the best-performing trends.
Running silhouettes dominate
Three of the year’s fastest-growing sneaker silhouettes have one thing in common – they’re rooted in running. The Nike Vomero 5 and Asics Gel-1130 are running shoes at their core, though consumers have embraced them for everyday wear. Trades of the Nike Vomero 5 and Asics Gel-1130 are up 5,104 percent and 1,176 percent, respectively. New Balance’s 9060 takes design notes from the 990, one of the brand’s most iconic running shoes. Trades of the 9060 jumped 744 percent in 2023, while searches increased by more than 1,000 percent.
Consumers purchased more than $10 million (€9.2m) worth of New Balance 9060s over the last 12 months, and the silhouette – which was only introduced in 2022 – has quickly become one of the top-traded New Balance styles on StockX.
In the last quarterly StockX Report of August 2023, it was reported that New Balance was on pace for record trades in 2023. New Balance was the only sneaker brand to rank among the top 10 fastest-growing and the top 10 best-selling sneaker brands on StockX in August, in part due to the continued success of the 9060 silhouette.
Exclusive drops on StockX also doing well
Stock X is now also being used as a platform for brands to launch – often limited edition – collections.
“The growing desire among young consumers to be early adopters has fueled interest in emerging labels and helped bolster demand for new sneaker silhouettes,” said StockX CEO Scott Cutler. “While we’ve seen price premiums soften on releases from some of the top brands, players like New Balance and Adidas are successfully tapping into consumers’ hunger for something different by launching new silhouettes or putting a fresh spin on retired classics.”
Crocs broke a StockX record with its Mater Clog, which dropped in October and celebrated a character from Pixar’s 2006 film, Cars. The Crocs Mater Clog saw more release-week trades than any other Crocs collaboration in StockX history, and customers have already spent more than $465,000 (€427.500) on the clogs since their release.
Crocs also saw success with other character-inspired releases this year, including Shrek and Hello Kitty. All three collaborations rank among the best-performing Crocs releases on StockX in 2023.
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Retro styles (and collaborations) remain popular
Cultural heritage and timeless design have also been popular, with Adidas models benefiting in particular. Silhouettes like the Campus 00s, Gazelle, and Samba pushed the brand to double-digit growth on StockX in 2023.
The year’s standout sneaker collaborations, based on the 2023 releases with the highest average price premiums on StockX, are also retro styles.
Travis Scott collaborations took the top two spots on the list. The Jordan 1 Retro Low Golf Travis Scott Neutral Olive ranked number one, with an average price premium of 397 percent, while the Jordan 1 Retro Low OG SP Travis Scott Olive – a women’s exclusive release – took the number two spot with an average price premium of 342 percent. The Nike SB Dunk Low Born X Raised One Block At A Time rounded out the top three with a 323 percent average price premium.
Nike products among most wished-for products on StockX
Introduced just in time for holiday shopping, StockX has rolled out StockX Lists: A new feature that gives users the ability to curate lists of the products they want to share with family and friends.
In just over a month, StockX users have made more than 500,000 adds to StockX Lists. Early data shows that Jordan 4s, Jordan 1s, and Nike Dunks rank among the most-requested sneakers.
Image source: StockX
