12 Amazing Trainer Brands You've Never Heard Of

This Swedish footwear label believe fashion should keep up with the digital age. With that promise at the core of their business, they release a new trainer design every week. The rubber platform, shell toe and minimal design available in sleek leather and suede options will be familiar for Stan Smith fans, but the little touches on these shoes set them apart.

Axel Arigato

Brooklyn based sneakerheads Greats have been creating their boutique footwear since 2013 with a focus on getting the product straight from the factory to the customer without the expensive in-between retailers. They have a variety of silhouettes from lace ups to slip ons, but we can't get enough of the retro-feel white leather trainers with a tan lining and stamp on the tongue.

Greats

C.QP prioritise comfort and support without sacrificing aesthetic. The shoes even have metal shanks in the sole to give support to your stride, something normally only found in fine dress shoes. Check out their tarmac, atrium and racquet lines for sleek neutral colours. This all black tarmac suede shoe is the perfect transition between office and evening.

C.QP

Filling Pieces blend craftsmanship with design and true trainer comfort. Their use of materials and visible stitching are also signatures on their designs. The zig-zag stitching and tonal ripple sole make this space-age looking white trainer a cut above the rest.

Filling Pieces

Applying a heritage feel to canvas trainers in exciting colours and patterns, Pointer's trainers are worth investing in. This plimsoll was named after rocker Keith Morris and inspired by 70's college preppy style. The insole, tongue, toe and sole all have eye-catching design features which will make your other shoes feel left out.

Pointer

Feiyue, meaning "flying forward" in Chinese, is a Shanghai brand that goes all the way back to the 1920s. The shoes have a surprisingly great support system, and apparently nearly 80% of kung fu fighters today still wear Feiyues for training. Whilst these will set you back less than £10 in Shanghai, they're a little more expensive abroad, but still reasonable given their different designs and great manufacturing.

Feiyue

Originally created by Frenchman Georges Grimmeise as the perfect white shoe for playing tennis on clay, these trendy plimsolls ended up on the feet of musicians and artists, from John Lennon on the cover of Abbey Road to the favourite of David Hockney. The classic shoe is still available in a mix of colours and styles with the Spring Court rubber emblem stamp proudly on the side.

Spring Court

Diemme are an Italian luxury shoe brand who have experience creating footwear for giants like Maison Martin Margiela, Chanel, Bottega Veneta and Gucci. Many of their designs including these grey Veneto Low trainers are ecologically manufactured. They use no chemicals but instead vegetable tanning agents and use as little water and electricity as posisble in the making process. The Serena sole is from a family run rubber company in Italy and, they assure you, is near impossible to wear down

Diemme

This slick trainer brand from - shock horror - Amsterdam have had huge success selling their neutral designs since 2010. You just have to look at how many are annoyingly listed as out of stock on their site to see how popular they are. An ETQ X Liberty pop up is running until 28th August, head down to stock up on coveted designs, or just gaze longingly.

ETQ Amsterdam

Generic Surplus, another L.A. based designer, make shoes that range from high tops to flip flops with a great variety of colours, prints and materials and all at reasonable prices. This borstal design has a woven suede fabric and tonal bumpers on the sole both of which make you look twice without screaming for attention

Generic Surplus

Pronounced 'article number', this LA. based outfit are new to the shoe scene but creating footwear that looks both artisan and fresh. Their paint splatter designs are a dream for the brave amoung us, but for a safer bet these low cut suede grey sneakers have a deer skin lining - you don't see that every day.

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