How These Pre-Distressed Sneakers Built a Cult Following

Golden Goose sneakers look worn-in straight from the box, and that's the whole point

The not-so-secret secret of all stylish men is a carefully crafted nonchalance: projecting that they don't care when, of course, they really do. Which explains the appeal of Golden Goose, the Italian label making brand-new sneakers that look like a worn-in pair of jeans. GG designers take the same quality leather you'd find in bench-made dress shoes and apply it to classic skate and basketball styles. Then they distress it by hand to create the kind of scuffs that'd take you years to make yourself, and finish the sneaks in color combos no one else has thought of. The result is a luxury item perfectly beaten up with “age.”

The idea came from two Italian designers, Francesca Rinaldo and Alessandro Gallo, admitted fashion industry outsiders who launched Golden Goose back in 2000. But don't feel bad if you don't know their names — since the beginning, the brand has relied on product to convey its message of craftsmanship and authenticity, and a break from what Rinaldo and Gallo saw as the "standardized brands of the market." Thus, the lived-in, pre-loved look.

With obsessive sneaker collectors taking pride in maintaining a fresh-from-the-box look to their most prized pairs, there's something undeniably subversive to buying a distressed looking pair and wearing them with a large heap of DGAF attitude. Celebrity sightings on stylish men like Jude Law and fashion cred collabs from the likes of Virgil Abloh's in-the-know brand Off-White have brought these from underground to their mainstream tipping point in recent months. And while the brand has expanded into some seriously luxe and casual clothing and above-the-ankle accessories in recent years, their signature sneaker keeps it all grounded (heh).

Forget those crispy white kicks of yore, you need a pair with a patina of age and experience. Nobody needs to know it's fresh out of the box.

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