While the Goliaths rest on their laurels, the up-and-coming brands below are busy making the trail shoes of the future—and they won’t be remotely offended if you rock their kicks anywhere but.

Syntilay has launched AI-designed, 3D-printed shoes. The footwear was designed with a mix of Midjourney and Vizcom AI The $150 shoes use smartphone foot scans for a fully customized fit.

“The shoe is the foundation of the silhouette ... at Balenciaga and will continue to perfect and develop in the future,” Demna explains. “It’s a completely new type of sneaker, almost ...

Adapt BB is all about a perfect, customised fit. It just happens to achieve that via a self-lacing shoe, like in Back to the Future. The system used is called FitAdapt, and it involves an app ...

People are getting lazier, and they want shoes that are simple to slip on. This movement is gaining momentum, and I think 3D printing will play a significant role in the future, but AI in design ...