Onitsuka Tiger’s Mexico 66 are the new Adidas Gazelles.

It’s almost poetic. A tiger devoured a gazelle. The natural way of things. If David Attenborough cared about sneakers, I’m sure he’d have something to say on the parallels of this trend shift.

We went from chunky to, in a full circle moment, slim. Sneakers haven’t left the centre of the fashion world (and aren’t going to anytime soon) but the style and how we’re wearing them, shifts a few degrees each season.

The key elements that seem to appear in each trend season include the4 following:

the size of the shoe: are they chunky, platform or slim?
The socks: do you wear them with no-show socks, simple ribbed crew socks or loud, attention drawing socks?
The hemline of the outfit: should it hit in the middle of the shin? Should it hit just over the top of your socks? should it cover the top half of the shoe?

Here are some of the combinations from recent history.

Chunky sneakers with no-show socks.

Images from Pinterest.

Chunky sneakers with crew socks.

Images from Pinterest.

Flat sneakers, covers with long pants or skirts.

Images from Pinterest.

Flat sneakers with funky socks.

So it begs the question, what's next?

Kendall Jenner is already wearing them, so its official.

Onitsuka Tiger’s Mexico 66 sneakers are leading the way for the trend early adopters as we move from chunky New Balance styles to a retro, slimline look. We’ve been gradually taking the chunkiness out of our sneaker in the last year with the Adidas Gazelles, and now we’re going a step further with the Mexico 66’s. They come in a huge range of colourways, all currently available on the official Onitsuka Tiger website.

The Onitsuka Tiger’s are a slim, retro style shoe that are another big step away from the chunky look we’ve come to know and love. I dare say this trend shift comes predominantly from the Mui Mui x New Balance collaboration that took the New Balance we were loving and made them slim, low and retro.

Here’s some inspiration on how you could wear them. Almost all elements of a sneaker trend are based on a juxtaposition. Sport x Style.