Ugg May Have a Surprise Hit With Sneakerheads (and It’s Not What You Think)

It began as a daring thought from an intrepid sneakerhead on Instagram: a pair of Salomon S/Lab XT-6 sneakers carrying a wierd rubber outer layer. Primarily based on the variety of flame emojis within the feedback part, it appears to be a success. Not lengthy after the unique submit, the favored streetwear account Hidden reposted the image. Quickly, it jumped platforms to TikTok, the place the almighty algorithm did the remainder. A number of customers started posting all types of sneakers carrying the rubber wrap, from Nikes and New Balances all the way in which to footwear from Yeezy and Rick Owens. One video of a wrapped pair of Nike Dunks raked in over two million views. So, what precisely was this factor?

It is the Ugg Boot Guard, a utilitarian galosh product of silicone rubber supposed to wrap snugly round your favourite pair of fleecy boots. It additionally appears to be like, slowly however certainly, to be successful over adventurous sneakerheads.

Designed for use with Ugg’s flagship fuzzy boots, that are famously not designed for rain, the Boot Guard is available in a number of colours. There are some louder shades to select from—taffy pink, canary yellow, icy child blue—however the sneakerhead-approved fare appears to be the earthy chestnut or the not-fully-opaque black. And it seems you’ll be able to throw the guard on no matter shoe you please. The sensible attraction right here is sensible. Sneaker lovers have lengthy gone to excessive lengths to maintain their kicks trying box-fresh: premium cleaners, safety sprays, particular wipes, you identify it. However one will get the sense sneakerheads are shopping for these for fashion moderately than operate. As a result of rubberized outdoorsy footwear has been trending for a while now, and rapidly the Ugg guard presents a approach to merge the look with no matter sneakers you occur to have helpful.

The posh home Bottega Veneta’s footwear program has put rubber entrance and heart for a couple of seasons now: the tastemaker-approved Puddle boot and sandal, the Rubber Flash clog. You may additionally discover related fare at Prada and Balenciaga, particularly Demna’s ultra-statement Trooper Rubber Boot. After which there’s the Worry of God California mule, a success from a label that has lengthy embraced earthy and desaturated hues. The rubber boot backside, too, is a longtime motif now noticed in all corners of the boot spectrum: simply have a look at the Prada Monolith boots or the mid-market Diemme Balbi Basso boot, and even and the extra reasonably priced heritage traditional, L.L. Bean’s Duck Boot. The concept of rubber-as-design is now a continuing in modern menswear collections.

At $50 a pop, the Ugg Boot Guard appears like a straightforward approach to boot-ify your favourite pair of sneakers, giving them a splash of the fabric now seen on designer footwear. To this point, solely a handful of sneakerheads have tried the sneaker-and-guard look, but when the Instagram Discover web page and TikTok algorithm have taught us something, it is that the place one daring particular person goes, others might quickly comply with. Moreover, having some weatherproof shoe guards in your closet heading into the slush and snow seasons won’t be the worst factor.