The Making of Dior's Low-Profile, High-Tech Skate Shoe (EXCLUSIVE)
As of 2024, there are two ends of the skate sneaker spectrum. There’s the super skinny and snug variety — your Vans Authentics, your Lakai — and the dummy thicc chunksters. Dior’s B9S sneaker sits in the latter camp, though it's far more refined than anything else you'll ever find there.
Also, you probably shouldn't skate Dior's new shoe, though you probably could. Its elegant design instead allows it to escape the narrow confines that thrash shoes normally fit into.
Dress these shredders up: Dior's B9S Skater shoes are fit for all occasions. Including the metaverse. Kinda.
The revamped Dior B9S sneaker, available for $1,900 via a pre-order on Dior's website, is embedded with an NFC chip that imbues each rare shoe with a digital authenticity certificate that guarantees veracity and unlocks first looks at Jones' forthcoming footwear designs.
This high-tech touch brings the B9S sneaker closer than any other luxury shoe to the scarcity inherent to the art realm, reiterated by beautiful cotton tweed uppers that depart from the quilted leather of prior B9S shoe styles.
Another nifty change: the B9S' upper now wears a delicate "DIOR" logo inspired by the maison's inimitable charm-laden jewelry.
A look behind the scenes at the B9S being made by hand in Dior's footwear atelier reveals the intricate process behind crafting each pair — these are truly handmade shoes, a painstaking trait they share with their forebear.
But regardless of whichever B9S sneaker you step out in, stay grounded in the knowledge that the silhouette is very much inspired by a wide '90s skate shoe, the kind of shoe that embodies the loungey cool of bygone eras. Pair with wide pants to achieve the desired result.
That doesn’t mean sloppy, mind you. Study Dior's own crisp styling and note the leather accents and white soles that clean up its B9S sneakers and make them almost preppy-looking in their tasteful versatility. The B9S may be a tangible (and trackable) example of luxurious craft but they're also darn wearable.
