The Margiela German Army Trainer is a signature sneaker design that has stood the test of time. The sneaker continues to be fabricated in many different materials and colorways and remains one of the label’s most popular footwear designs. The Margiela GAT has been part of the ‘Replica’ sub-line since it began in 2004. The sneaker itself is a luxe re-creation of the original German Army Trainer, which found a second life in European vintage shops. The creative recycling of pre-existing items was a core tenet of the Margiela design ethos and it’s no surprise that Margiela flipped this design for his own use. The sneaker is a prime example of how designers have looked to vintage sportswear as the basis for their own footwear interpretations.

The original German Army Trainer dates back to 1936 and the Berlin Summer Olympics. Brothers Adi and Rudolf Dassler (who would later go on to launch Adidas and Puma respectively) had a company called Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik, which produced the sneakers. The brand gained notoriety when Adi Dassler convinced American track legend Jesse Owens to wear a pair of the sneakers during those aforementioned Olympic games.

BAPE’s founder, Nigo, was obsessed with vintage and popular culture so it’s no surprise that he chose the Nike Air Force One as the basis for his now classic BAPESTA design. While they were often criticized for essential being an AF1 rip-off, the BAPESTA developed a dedicated fanbase of their own. Some sneakerheads even theorized that the star-branded sneakers had been created using a modified version of the original AF1 mold. The BAPESTA was also ahead of its time in the sense that the shoe normalized the idea of an elevated pricepoint for a sneaker that very much resembled an affordable staple.

A series of vividly colored patent colorways in the mid 2000s proved to be particularly popular in North America. The shoes themselves are also immortalized in popular culture through Soulja Boy’s infamous "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" in which he famously raps, "Haters get mad cause I got me some Bathing Apes."

The Balenciaga Arena sneaker combined a simple mid-height upper with hiking-boot style detailing and an array of luxe materials to create a certifiable high-end hit. Launched at the height of Nicolas Ghesquiere’s reign at the storied fashion house, the Arena would become the signature men’s piece from Balenciaga. For a while, these sneakers were ubiquitous on department store shelves and on the feet of influential celebrities from Kanye West to Lebron James. The sneaker is still highly available today and continues to be brought back season after season in new fabrications—truly a prototypical modern classic.

Launched in 2008, the original Rick Owens Geobasket sneakers were met with both celebration and disdain. While hardcore Rick Owens fans and the fashion elite flocked to them, there was no denying that the sneaker were quite a severe departure from traditional sneaker design. The shoe presented an exaggerated stance and elevated tongue that made it look like a grotesque version of the very Nike Dunk it was nicknamed after. The sneaker was meant to be worn with the baggy, drop-crotch sweatpants and distressed denim from the DRKSHDW line and quickly became essential for any Rick Owens fan to own.

One party that was not a fan of the design was Nike who quickly filed a cease and desist objecting to the obvious Swoosh-like detail regardless of its intentions as an homage. The sneakers were soon pulled off shelves, making the original Geobasket an instantaneous grail. While they later returned with a different stitched logo design, the OG "Dunk" remains the most iconic version of Owens' signature shoe.

Years of fruitful collaboration between Adidas and Yohji Yamamoto have resulted in countless grail-worthy pieces. The Y-3 Qasa is a real signature moment in the brand’s history and one of the best selling sneakers from Y-3 despite their recent introduction. The sneaker was a innovative new design that Adidas proceeded to almost immediately carru through it’s design DNA to general release models like the Adidas Tubular. The Qasa's futuristic look and versatility with technical sportswear pieces makes it a sneaker that we expect to be seen and coveted for years to come.

Raf Simons has an impeccable resume when it comes to footwear designs, but even with that in mind, the De Stijl boot remains one of his most iconic designs. Released in 2008, the brightly colored hi-top has a litany of design details with its yellow Lego-esque sole chief amongst them. The boot references the De Stijl art movement, an early 1900s art movement founded in Amsterdam. The best known artist of the movement, Piet Mondrian, has a clear influence on the design, from the boots pronounced lines to its deliberate choice of colors. Only a few shops worldwide carried the sneaker, so it’s incredibly difficult to hunt down a pair of these today.

Hender Scheme does not so much create new silhouettes as much as they re-craft them. The artisanal Japanese label remakes streetwear favorites in amazing natural leather. While they have done a variety of models, the best known amongst them is their take on the Air Jordan IV. The basketball shoe just feels like something completely different in the blush tones of natural leather and the removal of all branding elevates the sneaker into something that can be paired with many different outfits. The influence of Hender Scheme’s entire catalog on the high-end sneaker market can be seen today as everyone from Vans to Nike themselves have recently put out products with similar natural colors and materials.

While the Common Projects Achilles is hardly the most exciting sneaker on this list, it’s an example of how sometimes creating a classic is about doing less. In the vein of classic tennis sneakers, Common Projects was early to market with their high-end version, featuring high-grade leather, quality construction and barely-there branding. The CP Achilles was wildly popular when it first entered the market and retains every bit of its legacy as one of the best-selling and most popular high-end sneakers to date.

Once you’ve seen these sneakers, they’re impossible to forget. Legendary Austrian designer Carol Christian Poell is not someone you associate with sneaker design, but these object-dyed, handcrafted kicks are arguably something no other designer would even dare make. The shoes are dipped in latex giving the the sole their iconic spiky shape and, with retail over $2000, they don’t come cheap. Given CCP’s godlike status amongst the avant-garde set, "Drips" are a must-have.

The second Raf Simons sneaker on this list, the Raf Simons "Moto" sneaker is one of his first and best designs. Released as part of his Spring/Summer 2005 collection, the laceless velcro design and soft monochromatic leather are a natural pairing with the high-top cut of the sneaker. Like some sort of distorted Stan Smith, and nearly a decade before Simons officially collaborated on the classic tennis silhouette, the shoe gives a glimpse into Simons’ later designs, like the Astronaut sneaker and his mid-top velcro sneaker. A pair of Moto's are pretty hard to track down, but you might just find a pair if you look hard enough. Simons' recent collaborations with Adidas may have taken away attention from his eponymous line’s own footwear, but like many things in his archive, these stand the test of time and are arguably more relevant today than ever before.