The German Army Trainer (GAT): an unassuming leather and suede shoe, originally designed for military training, that somehow clawed its way from the barracks to the closets of every creative director with an Instagram mood board. Born out of sibling rivalry, both Adidas and Puma claim its origins - one of the many consequences of the Dassler brothers' infamous split. Regardless of its true progenitor, the GAT has transcended its utilitarian roots to become a canvas for reinvention, a sneaker equivalent of a mid-century chair endlessly reinterpreted by designers seeking to capture its timeless appeal.
Once a staple of surplus stores and underground fashion circles, the GAT - and its spiritual descendants like the Adidas Samba and Puma Suede - have undergone a transformation so complete that even your uncle who still wears bootcut jeans probably owns a pair. It’s the footwear equivalent of an indie film that suddenly gets a Hollywood remake - beloved, overexposed, and anxiously awaiting its eventual backlash.
So, naturally, designers couldn’t resist making their own versions. The past few years have seen an avalanche of GAT-inspired shoes, each attempting to capture a slice of its omnipresent cool factor. Some brands have simply tweaked the original - a premium material swap here, a slightly different sole there - while others have used it as a launchpad for something more distinct.
Enter Dries Van Noten, the anti-trend trendsetter. A designer so far removed from sneaker culture that the mere idea of him entering the post-GAT discourse feels like an inside joke. And yet, against all logic, he has emerged with one of the most compelling alternatives. The Belgian master of prints and precision tailoring - famous for crafting clothing that looks like a fever dream and feels like a second skin - has quietly designed a sneaker that borrows just enough from the GAT playbook without succumbing to imitation.
Part of Van Noten’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection - the penultimate one before his retirement, mind you - his suede sneaker is the embodiment of quiet luxury. It is, in essence, a GAT silhouette refined to the point where it no longer needs to scream its lineage. There’s no three-stripe branding, no desperate nod to archival sportswear. Just immaculate suede, a thoughtful color palette, and a designer pedigree that speaks for itself.
Van Noten isn’t alone. Designers across the spectrum have put their own spin on the formula, each with varying degrees of success.
Maison Margiela’s Replica sneaker, perhaps the most famous high-fashion GAT adaptation, embraces the silhouette’s military history while layering in its signature deconstructed ethos. The result? A sneaker that feels both archival and avant-garde, a meditation on uniformity and disruption.
Wales Bonner’s collaborations with Adidas arguably set off the designer Samba craze, turning the once-niche flat sneaker into a certified must-have. Her iterations, distinguished by luxe materials, hand-stitched details, and elongated tongues, pay homage to vintage sportswear while elevating the GAT’s DNA into something more refined.
Miu Miu, ever the master of subversion, eschewed the predictable path of simply reinterpreting the German Army Trainer (GAT). Instead, the brand ventured into a realm of aesthetic distillation, extracting the essence of retro sportswear and transmuting it into something altogether more ethereal. Rather than iterating on the familiar contours of the GAT, Miu Miu took the unmistakable bulk of a New Balance sneaker and compressed it into a whisper of its former self - an ultra-slim silhouette that teeters between nostalgia and futurism.
The result is an exercise in sartorial alchemy, proving that the post-GAT aesthetic isn’t merely a game of homage but one of reinvention. Miu Miu’s approach suggests that the lineage of sportswear-inspired fashion need not be confined to direct quotation; instead, it can be distilled into its most elemental forms, shedding excess in favor of something delicate, almost ephemeral. It’s a meditation on lightness—both literal and conceptual—where the weight of history is acknowledged but never burdensome, allowing the past to be refracted through a new, unexpected lens.
Jil Sander, true to its disciplined ethos, approached the GAT with a surgeon’s precision, reducing it to its purest form. The brand’s take on the silhouette is an exercise in restraint—every superfluous detail excised, every stitch purposeful. In Jil Sander’s hands, the GAT is no longer a relic of utilitarian sportswear but a meditation on form, function, and the quiet power of craftsmanship. The result is a sneaker that doesn’t clamor for attention but commands it through sheer refinement.
Gucci and Prada, by contrast, have embraced maximalism, treating the GAT as a canvas for indulgence. Their iterations swell with exaggerated proportions and luxuriant materials, each pair transformed into a symbol of contemporary opulence. Here, the sneaker is not just footwear but a declaration—of affluence, of taste, of belonging to a world where heritage sportswear and high fashion are no longer distinct entities but symbiotic forces.
Loewe, ever the provocateur, has taken an altogether different path, infusing the GAT’s disciplined lineage with whimsy and irreverence. Under Jonathan Anderson’s eye, the sneaker morphs into something sculptural, where conventional sportswear elements collide with unexpected textures and architectural soles. The tension between familiarity and innovation is at play, as Loewe deconstructs and reimagines, proving that even a military-issue trainer can be reconfigured into an object of pure fantasy.
Even Adidas and Puma themselves have capitalized on the moment, releasing hyper-premium versions of their heritage sneakers that blur the line between sportswear and luxury, ensuring that the original players in the game remain at the center of the conversation.
The Dries sneaker, much like the best of these adaptations, isn’t about reinventing the wheel - it’s about refining it to the point where it rolls smoother than anything else on the market. It doesn’t need to slap you across the face with its cool factor - it’s effortlessly stylish in a way that makes other “GAT-inspired” shoes look like try-hards.
The real trick? Letting people think they discovered it first. The success of these designer sneakers isn’t driven by heavy-handed marketing or forced hype - it’s powered by the idea that its buyers stumbled upon something special before the masses caught on. It’s the fashion equivalent of a restaurant with no sign outside, an unmarked speakeasy with the best cocktails in town. The people who need to know will find it. Everyone else can keep refreshing their cart, hoping for a restock.
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Words by AW.
Photos courtesy of Dries van Noten, Maison Margiela, Miu Miu, Jil Sander and Adidas.