V&A
Black White Red Chunky Triple S Sneakers
2010s · 2010s · French
Designer
Demna Gvasalia for Balenciaga
Production
ready-to-wear
Material
leather and mesh with rubber sole
Culture
French
Movement
Normcore · Luxury Streetwear · Athleisure
Influences
1990s basketball sneakers · technical running shoes
These are Balenciaga Triple S sneakers featuring an exaggerated chunky silhouette characteristic of the luxury streetwear movement. The shoes combine black mesh and leather uppers with white lace-up closure and contrasting red and beige accents on the thick, layered rubber sole. The platform construction adds significant height through multiple stacked sole layers. The oversized proportions deliberately subvert traditional athletic shoe aesthetics, creating a statement piece that bridges high fashion and street culture. The mixed material construction includes technical mesh panels, leather overlays, and a complex multi-density rubber outsole system typical of luxury sneaker design in the late 2010s.
shoeoversized
Connected To
Movement·Luxury StreetwearTechnique·leather-working
SHARED20 years · cross-culture
These sneakers trace the arc of luxury's courtship with the street, from Versace's crystal-crusted high-tops that brought disco glamour to athletic silhouettes in the '90s to Balenciaga's aggressively chunky Triple S that made ugly beautiful two decades later. Where Versace bedazzled the familiar basketball shoe with diamanté sparkle—luxury as ornament—Balenciaga deconstructed the very idea of what a sneaker should be, layering sole upon sole until proportion itself became the luxury gesture.
Pull the Thread→
Follow this garment wherever the graph leads
