GAT Damn
Maison Margiela's GAT, or German army trainer, is the epitome of ordinary. Here is the ultimate plain sneaker, made from a little leather, a little rubber, and not much else. That is by design, of course: officially and knowingly titled the "Replica," Margiela's signature sneaker was born of house founder Martin Margiela's desire to reclaim the quintessential normal shoe. Perfectly unmemorable, perfectly anonymous.
Except nowadays, not so much.
Two separate but similar strains of pricey sneaker have become havens of flat shoe style for folks craving something mildly less obvious than, say, the adidas Samba.
Either they're going super flat and super luxe in the vein of today's archetypal modern luxury shoe or they're going back to where the whole luxury sneaker thing began. Increasingly so, even.
Because, GAT damn, there sure are a lot of people wearing Maison Margiela's GAT sneaker. (or one of its many imitators)
Given its original unassuming intent, maybe it's fitting that this shoe is now worn by quite literally everyone and their dad.
If Dries Van Noten's Suede shoe is the sauced-up youngster, Margiela's GAT is the original sport shoe gone suave. The Margiela GAT originated in the late '90s as a luxe'd-up version of the German military (or Bundeswehr) trainer created in the '70s or so. Whereas the latter was a product of purely athletic purposes, the former has been an object of purely aesthetic purposes for over a decade within menswear and remains a cornerstone of, if you will, "timeless bro fashion" to this day.
The recent rise of the Margiela GAT is an extension of that same it-factor. Instead of its all-purpose wearability being the core appeal, though, it's that the GAT is a still-flat, still-ordinary but extra-indulgent alternative to the ubiquitous and affordable low-cut shoes that've dominated general footwear discourse for the better part of three years. Menswear dudes were already aware. The TikTok crowd is just plugging in.
Compare its profile and paneling to those of contemporary kicks like PUMA's Speedcat or Onitsuka Tiger's Mexico 66. Similar, just more sumptuous. Then compare prices — at around $750, Margiela's GAT is upwards of seven times more expensive and a hundred times more exclusive. It's not so hard to puzzle out the appeal of a status symbol with moderate swag (unless you're a user of the Margiela subreddit, apparently).
Margiela's GAT shoe has never not been in demand but its most recent resurgence began maybe two years ago. This was, in part, a reaction to and swerve away from the overwhelming visibility of adidas' Samba, another similarly shaped sneaker. But if the 2024 GAT hype was a stream, by 2025 it's Niagara Falls.
The flood of GAT content on platforms like TikTok has even inspired a micro-movement loosely called "Margiela GATs Summer," because some trends just do not have good names.
It sure does feel like a GAT golden age. Since GAT buzz began building a couple seasons ago, an abundance of suspiciously similar shoe styles are proliferating en masse.
The usual fast-fashion knock-offs were to be expected but thematic riffs, like the toe-shaped spin-off from Margiela sibling label MM6 and Matthew Williams' nameless GAT-flavored runner, demonstrate the GAT's blank canvas capabilities. A sneaker this simple was inevitably going to serve as a springboard.
And, indeed, basically every luxury label under the sun is following suit with its own GAT-ish shoe. Hey, if you can't beat em...
Not everyone is late to the GAT game, mind you. Kim Jones' final Dior menswear collection revived a GAT-adjacent silhouette was part of the maison's footwear stable several decades ago. Obviously, its return is quite timely.
And even adidas, as it keeps , revived the BW Army sneaker earlier this year. This brings us back full circle.
The adidas BW Army is, according to fashion legend, the exact shoe that directly inspired Margiela to create its own GAT (the "BW" in the adidas sneaker's name supposedly stands for Bundeswehr). GAT damn.
Where will it end? Not any time soon.
Shoemakers are, as Biggie once said, squeezin' GATs til the clip runs empty
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