Supermodels Agree This Resurgent 2025 Sneaker Trend Is Serious Competition for the Adidas Samba

Emily Ratajkowski joins Rihanna and Dua Lipa in approving the trend.

Emily Ratajkowski wears a leather jacket with slim black jeans and slim sneakers
(Image credit: The Image Direct)

The biggest sneaker trends to emerge in 2025 so far have celebrated loud luxury and personal style. However, Emily Ratajkowski just made a case for returning to 2024's understated sneaker silhouettes, while co-signing a resurgent footwear trend.

A multitude of celebrities have embraced the Adidas Samba—including everyone from Kaia Gerber to Anne Hathaway—but supermodels appear to be ushering in another resurgent sneaker trend, for anyone who's ready to move on from the popular style.

Ratajkowski was recently photographed in New York City wearing a pair of black Puma Speedcat sneakers, a style beloved by supermodels and celebrities alike. She completed the outfit with black bootcut jeans and an oversize burgundy leather jacket.

Emily Ratajkowski wears a leather jacket with slim black jeans and slim Puma sneakers

Emily Ratajkowski wearing Puma Speedcat sneakers.

(Image credit: The Image Direct)

Both Ratajkowski and Dua Lipa have been fans of the Puma Speedcat style for the past year. The fact that the popular sneaker retails for around $100 makes it seriously accessible, while being totally in keeping with the slimmer silhouettes favored so far in 2025.

Rihanna's love of the brand was never more evident than with the launch of her latest Fenty x Puma collaboration. The collection even includes footwear clearly inspired by the Speedcat. The Avanti LS ($120), features a large tongue and a spiked heel, and its shape remains similar to everyone's favorite slim Puma sneaker.

Puma isn't the only brand embracing the public's ever-growing love for the slender sneaker trend. Jamie Lee, a shoe buyer at luxury retailer Moda Operandi, previously told Marie Claire, "It-sneakers are going even sleeker with very thin soles, tapping into the ballet flat's market share." From Prada's recently released Collapse sneaker to Adidas's Taekwando shoe, shoppers have a plethora of options if they're ready to welcome the slim sneaker trend.

In a candid 2022 interview, Ratajkowski opened up about her path to becoming a successful model. "There have been so many times in my career where I have thought about changing career paths or giving up," she told Harper's BAZAAR UK. "I stopped totally modeling when I went to college and I thought I was going to become an artist, and then I left and started modeling full time and then I sort of dabbled in acting...I feel like I am constantly evolving."

Amy Mackelden
Weekend Editor

Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.