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Gen Z voted with their entries this year. Here's where they landed.
This is part two of our unranked sneakers of the year (so far), pulled straight from EQL launch data. Part one looked at how far demand traveled. This one looks at who's coming up next, and it surfaced a few pairs you probably wouldn't have guessed.
The EQL sneakers of the year 2026 series
- SOTY 2026: Most Global
- SOTY 2026: Gen Z Favs (you're here)
- SOTY 2026: Beyond the Swoosh
How we built the Gen Z Favs list
We looked at three things across EQL launches this year: how many Gen Z fans entered, how much of the total field they made up, and how many of them were entering for the first time.
That last one matters most. A first entry is someone choosing to step into the culture. The releases that brought new fans in are the ones shaping what sneakers look like for the next decade.
Same rules as part one: unranked, no panel, just data.
adidas Superstar x Sp5der
Young Thug founded Sp5der in Atlanta in 2019, and younger fans have worn it heavy ever since. Its take on the Superstar shifted the Three Stripes toward the toe and coated the upper in patent leather with a debossed spider web, per Sole Retriever. It's an archive shoe with a completely different energy.
Complex was tracking this one months before it landed. It also made our Beyond the Swoosh list. Find more at adidas.
V.A.A. x Air Jordan 1 High OG "Alaska"
The first global release from the Virgil Abloh Archive™ is the only pair to appear on both our Most Global and Gen Z lists. That tracks. Virgil's influence on younger fans was never about nostalgia. It was about permission to design, remix, and question.
Complex's readers agreed, moving "Alaska" to number one in its mid-year Sneaker of the Year vote. EQL was the launch partner for V.A.A., and Sneaker News has the full story.
Air Jordan 1 Low x Travis Scott "Pink Pack"
Cactus Jack is known for earth tones, so a pink pack was a swing. "Tropical Pink" pairs a pink nubuck base with the signature reverse Swoosh in red, and "Shy Pink" keeps things lighter with a muslin upper, according to The Source.
Not everyone was sold online, but Gen Z clearly was. Their entries said so. See the pair on Nike SNKRS.
Nike Mind 001
The surprise of the list. The Mind 001 is a mule built on more than a decade of work from the Mind Science Department at the Nike Sport Research Lab, with 22 independent foam nodes designed to sharpen how you feel the ground, according to Nike.
A neuroscience-backed mule isn't the obvious Gen Z pick. But a generation that cares about how things make them feel showed up for it. Sneaker Freaker breaks down every colorway.
Salomon XT-4 x Feid
Colombian reggaeton star Feid first made this neon green XT-4 in 2024 as a 100-pair friends-and-family run he wore on stage. This year fans finally got their shot, per Sneaker Freaker, with graphics drawn from his "Ferxxocalipsis" visuals.
Music is one of the strongest on-ramps into sneakers for younger fans, and this pair proves it. It's also on our Beyond the Swoosh list. More at Salomon.
What Gen Z Favs tells us
Look at the range here: an archive Jordan, a mule, a trail shoe, a remixed Superstar. Gen Z doesn't shop by silhouette or category. They show up for the story, the artist, and the feeling. And plenty of them are showing up for the first time, which is the best possible sign for where this culture is headed.
For brands, that's the takeaway: the next generation of loyal fans is entering right now. How their first launch feels shapes whether they come back. Our guide on how limited-edition launches build lasting communities digs into that.
What's next
Who's missing? Tell us on Instagram. Then head to part three, Beyond the Swoosh, where we look at the year without Nike in the picture at all.
The EQL sneakers of the year 2026 series
- SOTY 2026: Most Global
- SOTY 2026: Gen Z Favs (you're here)
- SOTY 2026: Beyond the Swoosh
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