Harry Styles Is Dancing in $1,000 Sneakers, and Nature Is Healing Again
As you’ve probably heard, Harry Styles is back. His new album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, won’t arrive for another few weeks, but he’s already giving the fans a hint of what’s to come with “Aperture”, a hazy, slow-burn of a track that marks a “quietly radical” shift away from his usual stadium bangers. It’s not quite a total 180 for Zoe Kravitz’s significant other, but it’s certainly a bit of a vibe shift. I like it. And, as it happens, I like the sneakers he’s wearing in the accompanying music video, too.
“Aperture” was filmed inside the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown LA, where the three-time Grammy winner dons a slew of custom Prada outfits to saunter, tumble, and shimmy through its dramatically-lit corridors. But none of that really matters. Watching it, my eyes went almost immediately to the slime-green sneakers Styles wears throughout the video, a barely-there silhouette that might look familiar to eagle-eyed GQ readers.
The sneakers in question are the Prada Collapse, released last summer during the nascent days of the torpedo sneaker moment. Torpedo sneakers—soft-soled shoes that borrow a move or two from traditional ballet flats—have become so ubiquitous we’ve credited them with making designer kicks cool again, and Prada’s riff on the category remains a step ahead of the pack. Foot Locker stalwarts like Puma and Onitsuka Tiger are in the running, too, but, perhaps expectedly, guys like Styles swear by their designer counterparts.
Torpedo sneakers are slim, low to the ground, and a little unforgiving. Contrary to the ginormous kicks once proposed by labels like Balenciaga, they don’t hide behind chunky soles or umpteen layers of foam. But that’s precisely their appeal: as Harry Styles proves, in the right context they look light, precise, and downright elegant.
Still unsure about the torpedo sneaker’s staying power? Consider this all the excuse you need to lace up a pair. When one of pop’s boldest fashion plates kicks off his comeback with can’t-miss-’em Prada sneakers, it’s a decent sign the silhouette won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
This story originally appeared in British GQ.
