Poll: What's the Best Sneaker of 2016?

Release Date: 03/12/16

Retail Price: $180

Inspired by the Berlin flag, which is highlighted in the shoe’s mix of grey, white, and red. This sneaker used suede to wrap around the heel instead of the normal plastic heel counter. Riding the momentum of the highly sought after Ultra Boost, the shoe was one of the first Ultra Boosts to release uncaged before hitting mass production.

Release Date: 4/13/16

Retail Price: $200

Legendary. The only word that can truly encapsulate what this sneaker means and what it was worn to accomplish. Kobe Bryant wore these special edition “Fade To Black” Kobe 11 shoes as the final part of the Mamba Pack collection in his final game in the NBA versus the Utah Jazz on April 13. He put up 60 points in them, making them not only one of the most memorable sneakers of the year, but Kobe's entire career.

Release Date: 05/23/16

Retail Price: $275

Marcus Jordan (Michael Jordan’s son) debuted his sneaker store Trophy Store earlier this year. Of course, the occasion could only be celebrated with a limited Jordan Brand exclusive. Coming in two colorways—white and gold and black and gold—this XX3 featured the words “Heir Jordan” on the tongue, rightfully so.

Release Date: 02/13/16

Retail Price: $220

For the first time since 1989, “Nike Air” returned to the heels of the Air Jordan 4 when the “White/Cements” dropped in early 2016. And despite widespread availability, the shoe had no trouble selling out initially, nor throughout its many restocks.

Release Date: 05/28/15

Retail Price: $190

Jordan Brand built on an already huge year for the Jordan 12 by re-releasing the “Flu Games” in remastered form. In a year full of AJ 12 releases in colorways familiar and new, this one was a standout among them all.

Release Date: 06/11/16

Retail Price: $350

Kanye West set off this summer with Yeezy drop in a grey nubuck upper and a gum sole that glows in the dark. As expected with anything Kanye drops, the release sparked massive hype and the shoes were sold out in minutes, if not seconds, online.

Release Date: 01/28/16

Retail Price: $175

Transforming an already iconic shoe seems like an unfeasible task, yet that's what Nike did with the Ultra Flyknit silhouette. The one knock on the original shoe was that it is too colossal but this new technologically advanced shoe solved that problem as Nike brought forth its most lightweight version to date. Regardless of how you feel about remixing a classic, you have to respect what Nike is doing in reconstructing the past narratives to reflect the time of innovation in the sneaker industry.

Release Date: 06/11/16

Retail Price: $120

All publicity is good publicity, right? The most notable thing to mention about the "Chef Curry" 2s was how they became an instant victim to internet memes and talk show roasts. Sure, the simple white and silver colorway wasn't particularly exciting, but there wasn't anything actually wrong with it either. The two-time MVP may not have gone on to win his second title, but he did have one of the most talked about sneakers of the year—for better or worse.

Release Date: 03/23/16

Retail Price: $160

The Nike Air More Uptempo was an unexpected hit this year. Originally released in 1996, the sneaker was known for its trademark "AIR" hit and bulky '90s shape. The return of the silhouette was timed perfectly as it celebrated its 20th anniversary and also returned in Scottie Pippen's Team USA edition.

Release Date: 06/20/16

Retail Price: $150

From a tech standpoint, the KD 9 represented the largest step forward for Kevin Durant's signature line by featuring Flyknit and full-length Zoom for the first time. It also marked a symbolic step forward, with its release coming just weeks before KD's surprise announcement of signing with the Golden State Warriors.

Release Date: 05/12/16

Retail Price: $180

The adidas Ultra Boost was Sole Collector's 2015 reigning Sneaker of the Year and its momentum held steady in 2016. Before moving on to the new Uncaged version, adidas rekindled the love affair with the original model by dropping the "Triple White 2.0" Ultra Boost. A slightly tweaked version of the colorway that Kanye West famously wore, the sneaker featured a white gradient Primeknit upper atop all-white Boost.

Release Date: 02/12/16

Retail Price: $200

The Air Jordan 30 came out months behind schedule and lacked any wow factor whatsoever thanks to sharing a tooling with its predecessor. But based on performance alone, the latest edition of the Air Jordan proved to be a worthy addition to the line.

Release Date: 05/17/16

Retail Price: $165

Take one already popular sneaker, then add an unrelated-yet-awesome marketing partner, and drop it right in the middle of a historic playoff run. The Ky-Rispy Kreme Kyrie 2 may have been one of the most unexpected collaborations of the year, but also one of the most memorable.

Release Date: 06/15/16

Retail Price: $100

Adidas has been on a roll when it comes to running sneakers as of late, but a sneaker without Boost couldn’t possibly interest the sneakerhead community, right? Wrong. The performance-meets-fashion direction of the AlphaBounce sold out in less than 24 hours. Also, the price tag came in at $100.

Release Date: 06/21/16

Retail Price: $181

Regardless of its aesthetics and technology, the LeBron Soldier 10 has a story that will be told in Cleveland for generations. It released exclusively on Nike iD just days after the Cavs' historic win, and will have an impact that lives on in sports history.

Release Date: 09/15/16

Retail Price: $200

In one of the most anticipated collaborations of the year Errolson Hugh and Acronym brought their unique high-tech aesthetic to Nike’s hot-again Air Presto. From the clue-based unveiling, to the product itself, it was one of the most complete releases of the year.

Release Date: 07/22/16

Retail Price: $240

Pharrell Williams is no stranger to sneaker collaborations, but his initial Adidas offerings didn’t move the hype needle as expected after his 2014 signing to the brand. That all changed with the HU NMD—an updated take on the already hugely popular NMD model, which was met with instant sell outs and high resale prices.

Release Date: 09/24/16

Retail Price: $220

It’s hard to say how the Trump-endorsing, Beyonce-dissing, late-2016 version of Kanye West will impact the future of the Yeezy line, but when the first V2 edition of the 350 dropped, it was met with open arms. While it wasn't exactly a new model, it was different enough to provide a fresh feel for fans who’d been craving something different.

Release Date: 12/01/16

Retail Price: $720

Those that missed out on the self-lacing sneaker they actually wanted in 2016 had a consolation prize: the Nike Hyperadapt. Time will tell if consumers actually want a self-lacing sneaker, or if price points will make it affordable to the masses, but since the Nike Mag never released at retail, the Hyperadapt represented the most tech that could be packed into a single shoe in 2016.

Release Date: 09/03/16

Retail Price: $185

If you only paid attention to the stories Jordan Brand retold with the Air Jordan 31 (Banned, Shattered Backboard, Space Jam) then you would have missed out on the fact that shoe once again offered industry-leading performance, at a price even lower than the previous edition.

Release Date: 11/25/16

Retail Price: $220

It’s only been a few years since we were told the Air Jordan 3 was put back into the archives, but we knew all along that it wouldn’t last. The model came back in epic fashion in 2016, most notably in an OG colorway, with Nike Air on the heel. And to make things even better, it wasn’t even hard to get your hands on.

Release Date: 12/02/16

Retail Price: $120

For longtime collectors, few Air Force 1s are as sought after as the “Linen” editon. Fans rejoiced when word got out that the model would be returning in 2016. And while the excitement was somewhat diminished when it was announced as a Kith Miami exclusive—a retailer that didn’t even exist when the Linens originally dropped in 2001, in a city not known for wearing AF1s—it still had no trouble selling out.

Release Date: 11/28/16

Retail Price: $160

“What The”-themed shoes have a tendency to veer very wrong, very fast. The “Top Three” Air Jordan 1 mash-up celebrated the three most popular colorways of the model, and may not have been for everyone, but it could have also been a whole lot worse.

Release Date: 05/16/16

Retail Price: $180

Part of its 20 year anniversary celebration of Allen Iverson’s first signature sneaker, Reebok linked up with Major DC. The inspiration behind the shoe is what leads the shoe in its direction of a blue and grey colorway. The shoe featured a kente cloth pattern on its upper that embodies the Georgetown Hoyas—​AI's alma mater.

Release Date: 08/17/16

Retail Price: $200

There were plenty of choices in Olympic-themed footwear in 2016, but Adidas' Ultra Boost offerings stood out for being able to be relevant long after Rio Games had ended, thanks to their clean and wearable colorways. 

Release Date: 12/10/16

Retail Price: $220

As one of the most popular sneakers of all time, any year a “Space Jam” Air Jordan 11 drops, it will be in contention for Sneaker of the Year. What made 2016 a particularly strong release for the shoe was its tie-in to the 20th anniversary of Space Jam the movie.

Release Date: 12/03/16

Retail Price: $190

Don’t feel bad if you’ve never associated the black and white colorway of the Air Jordan 9 with the movie Space Jam—no one else had either. It did, however, appear in the movie. So, thanks to a new marketing campaign, this once-mundane model now has a nickname.

Release Date: 12/03/16

Retail Price: $140

It may not have been as brutal or lasted as long as the “Chef” Curry 2’s takedown, but James Harden’s first signature model was met with a Twitter roast of its own. For better or worse, that means the sneaker world was at least paying attention.

Release Date: 10/01/16

Retail Price: $225

Drake and Jordan Brand’s partnership hasn’t yielded as many sneaker releases as many fans had hoped, but that also means there’s been more than enough hype to go around on the few occasions they have hit retail. The white 12s were no exception, and resell for multiple times their original price.

Release Date: 12/03/16

Retail Price: $275

Miami-based Solefly had a big year when it came to Air Jordan collaborations. Along with a Jordan Eclipse and Air Jordan 23 was this ostrich-textured Air Jordan 16, which had retro and pink flash accents, a reversible gaiter, and was limited to 1,500 pairs.