Long before Kim Kardashian-West and Bella Hadid deemed it cool to slip into the once abhorred chunky dad sneakers trend, Britney Spears was already dancing her way to pop star royalty in the early 2000s with the OG Skechers D’Lites. Nearly two decades later, the heritage pair are making a comeback and oops, it looks like we are hitting this baby one more time.
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Sure, it may be burning up all over your social media timelines now, stomping on the most hallowed concrete streets of fashion capitals all over the world and being the subject of an all too exclusive cop to drop with a hefty price tag to boot, but years before the mainstream players dubbed it cool—or at least even okay to wear—the once all-the-rage pair of chunky dad sneakers were left to gather dust as relics of a style past. In the interim of a general fashion snob mood over the offshoot of the late 90s and early 00s, the clunky footwear quickly became a pop culture signifier akin to our fathers. They sure didn’t have a problem with it. In fact, while the trend-obsessed world labeled it as awkward, ugly and uncool, they thought it was mighty awesome enough to wear with their straight-cut jeans or cargo shorts—all the time.
Look who’s having the last laugh now?
Skidding way past the age of normcore (remember that era?) and fusing a modern-day style statement with a soft spot for nostalgia, long buried trends we swore never to wear have since been borrowed by the current fashion gods. Ever since the advent of atypicals such as Demna Gvasalia at Vetements (and later on, Balenciaga) and Alessandro Michele at Gucci, the fervor for fashion quirks and irreverence is at an all-time high. Today, women like a stiletto-loving Kim Kardashian-West and the currently Matrix-obsessed Bella Hadid have since kicked off their heels in favor of what was once called the chunky monkeys.
Made popular by the princess of pop herself, Britney Spears, the mother of all these chunky dad sneakers are making a comeback in the contemporary league of street style. An identifier of Y2K generation, the Skechers D’Lites resurfaces with a more modern approach with the introduction of the D’Lites 2 Sweet Monster. A coming together of style and swag, the Skechers D’Lites 2 Sweet Monster has seen a smashing success in Korea (as seen on K-pop groups such as Sistar and EXO), Japan, Hong Kong, USA and Canada. In the Philippines, Skechers Philippines is releasing the women’s collection of the updated silhouette exclusively at The Nines Shop.
To celebrate its release today, Skechers Philippines partnered with The Nine Shop to create a campaign that best puts the Skechers D’Lites 2 Sweet Monster to perspective. The result is ‘The Retro Renegade’ campaign, a lookbook that brings together the latest from brands such as Champion, Thrasher and Carrot by The Hundreds, which takes a classic favorite to the more current scene. “The Skechers D’Lites 2 Sweet Monster and the resurgence of such a heritage silhouette represents a statement in itself,” explains Brent Javier, Creative Director for The Nines. “We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel here. The Retro Renegade campaign is about democratizing diverse street styles; meshing them together to create a luxe yet approachable look. Yes, we’re associating the project with being rebellious and unapologetic similar to what many streetwear brands stand for these days, but we’re doing it on our own terms.”
More than just a cyclical reminder of fashion and style coming and going, the whole resurgence of the chunky dad sneakers trend teaches us to never count something out just because it isn’t knighted as cool. Who would’ve known that the pair we once tossed along with our pubescent years would come back in a major way? If it is special and it fits, keep at it. You never know when you will want to bust it out way past the gym or to remind yourself of your dreaded Physical Education classes way back when.
Unconventional and unapologetic, these pairs of are more than just shoes, you know. If anything, they are a smashing of a perception of cool and a defiance of stipulated style rules. To hell with what everyone says, right?
Oh, and the best part of all this? Maybe, your dad will not only approve of this obsession, but he might just finally get fashion.
The Retro Renegade Lookbook featuring Skechers D’Lites 2 Sweet Monster and a curated collection of apparel brands will be available via The Nines web-store on May 24, 2018. Skechers D’Lites 2 Sweet Monster will also be available at The Nines store located at the 2nd floor of Uptown Mall in BGC. For more information, follow The Nines on Facebook and on Instagram.
