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You've probably noticed that meshy, silver-paneled running sneakers are enjoying what we in the biz call “a moment” right now, bolstered by Gen Z’s insatiable appetite for nostalgia-tinged, Y2K-era kicks. Up until this point, the genre has largely been dominated by names like Asics and New Balance (hell, even Saucony is getting in on the action), brands that remain as beloved for their comfort-first ethos now as they were in their glorious '90s heyday.
When it comes to sneakers, though, you should never count out the Swoosh. Over the last year, Nike's Zoom Vomero 5 has become Beaverton's answer to the dad shoe craze, rapidly ascending to It sneaker status in the process. And with Nike pushing an impressive array of eminently wearable colors, it's not much of a stretch to suggest that the Vomero is poised for a huge summer.
Unlike other sneakers in the throwback runner space, though, the Vomero isn't that old. It first debuted in 2011 as a performance shoe designed to help speed demons shave seconds off their mile times. But the sneaker really caught on seven years later, when Nike introduced a blocky, reworked version of the silhouette in collaboration with A-Cold-Wall, which catapulted the style to the forefront of the fashion conversation. The Vomero has been re-released a few times since then in limited numbers, but now Nike seems committed to capitalizing on its potential, dropping a slew of widely-available versions designed to stoke a frenzy of chatter online.
In the last few months alone, a litany of new Vomero colorways have hit the shelves, in stark white, sky blue, and one brown-and-burnt-orange combination that's become a particular favorite of downtown cool guys and floppy-haired TikTokkers. Its far-reaching appeal makes sense: unlike other iPod-era runners that lean into a certain “so bad it’s good” cheekiness, the Nike Zoom Vomero 5 is a relatively pared-down option for fellas new to throwback kicks.
Sure, it boasts the requisite performance-oriented specs and design flourishes that sync up easily with baggy cargos and tricked-out gym shorts, but its retro vibe also means it can anchor ginormous khakis and crisp dress shorts with equal aplomb. The Vomero might've been ahead of the curve in 2011, but a little over a decade later its resurgence feels right on time.