Favorite White Sneaker for Spring/Summer 2012

1. Jack Purcell – $70 by Converse – The canvas low-top Jack Purcell sneaker is so classic. I had a navy pair back in college around 99-00 and my buddy used to call them the Jack McClusky’s. I have know idea where he got that name from. It was just his was of teasing me a bit because I was only person foolish enough to walk around campus in these old school sneakers while everyone else was gearing up to cop a fresh pair of white on white Air Force 1’s. No sir…not me! (Ross voice) Whenever you don’t know what to wear with a pair of summer shorts these are your answer.

2. Superstar 2.0 – $70 by Adidas – Thanks to combination of Run DMC’s fascination with shell toe Adidas and Jay-Z’s love for white on white Air Force One, these Adidas have climbed to the top as an inner city lifestyle shoe. They’re loved so much because they’re less bulky than the Nike’s Air Force One and the shell toe cap prevents the sneakers from showing a gruesome crease in the toe box. They also just seem cooler than AF1′s nowadays. Unfortunately this hold dirt just as well as any other white sneaker and it’s a hassle to clean them so there’s a good chance these won’t make it pass August. Myself and many others make these a yearly purchase. I broke that habit three years ago but that doesn’t mean these won’t be on shelf of your local sneaker retailer in about week if they aren’t there already.

3. Achilles Low – $345 by Common Projects available at Mr. Porter – Still my favorite sneaker that I don’t own. These will work with every, I repeat EVERY, Spring/Summer look you can put together. The best thing about them is that they don’t even look bad after they’ve collected a few smudges and dirt. They’re made with some of the finest Italian leathers so that ensures quality and durability. The high tops are good too but the low tops have a sleeker silhouette that kind of just gets out of the way if you’re wearing pants and shoes more ankle if you’re wearing shorts.

4. Leather High tops – $460 by Giuliano Fujiwara available at The Corner – I couldn’t just give you all low tops to for the entire season. Here a pair of gorgeous hightops for the higher end shopper. Fujiwara has been making waves with his sneakers in the past few seasons. I took my notice 2 years ago and last year when I saw these futuristic high tops which I love. The brand has came back from the future and gives us a much more tame, clean silhouette that can be worked into just about anyone’s wardrobe. They’re 100% premium leather with a suede tab on the tongue and a suede toe box that extends slightly around the side. I think that’s the best detail. It hard to make  the classic Chuck Taylor silhouette look new yet keep it true and simple but Fujiwara does so in this Spring/Summer 2012 collection.

UPDATE:

Hight top trainer – $455 by M. Martin Margiela available at Ssense - I knew these were dropping for Spring but I couldn’t find a good image to post of these yesterday when I upped this post. Then an email for these hit my inbox today and I had to come update this post because I’m definitely a fan of Margiela sneaks. So much so I had to share here. This is one of the sleekest athletic silhouettes I can possible think of for a sneaker. Its sporty and sharp but wouldn’t be mistaken for a purely athletic shoe. The gum is proper and is reminiscent of the old school gum bottom AF1′s. The mix fo suede and leather is perfect and the beige laces are the icing on thee cake. Now my white sneaker pick for Spring/Summer 2012 is complete.