HIDDEN's Best Sneakers of 2025
Ranked by the HIDDEN Discord, and HIDDEN's Personal Picks.
A little over 2 years ago, the HIDDEN NY Discord community launched, and has since become an important, self-sustaining part of the overall HIDDEN discourse, showing how much the reach of the community has grown.
As we reflect on an amazing year, it’s worth highlighting what the community has deemed their top sneakers of 2025. It has a lot of crossover with the overall zeitgeist in the sneaker conversation, especially when it comes to the love given to Nigel Sylvester, who arguably dropped some of the year’s best collaborations and 100% deserves all the flowers he’s currently getting.
It also rightly gives props to Joe Freshgoods’ consistent ability to create compelling New Balance collaborations, and unsurprisingly rates Tom Sachs’ newest Nike iteration up there too. But what was surprising was the variety of shoes when it came to honorable mentions and nods to newness.
The Yu-Gi-Oh! Air Maxes remain one of the year’s most surprising and unexpectedly good releases, especially with the inclusion of trading cards and regional exclusives. Former Dior footwear designer Thibo Denis (currently at Louis Vuitton) also deserves praise for stepping outside of the box with his new collaboration with Birkenstock, combining his penchant for outdoor style with a fun, chunky upper.
And while the HIDDEN Discord continues to discuss the year’s best releases, HIDDEN has compiled a list of personal favorites too. Feel free to discuss in the chat…