Our Spring 2025 Shopping Picks, Featuring the Real People of New York
In hindsight, probing Highsnobiety’s most enthusiastic window shoppers about their favorite products for spring was asking for an eclectic curation of products. This lot takes their retail therapy seriously, and they've got a lot to say.
We've rounded up a set of our favorite products of the season and gear tested them for a shoot on the streets of NYC. Additionally, we asked our team of editors and style aficionados to expound on their favorites. One minute, you’ve got a shopping editor drawing comparisons between Marcel Duchamp’s pioneering readymade art and Louis Vuitton handbags; the next, you’re being lectured on the engineering behind Porsche’s newest Carrera 911. It's shopping-fueled mayhem: Knowingly over-intellectualized ramblings and excessively technical knowledge included.
Keep scrolling to let the chaos ensue.
Tiny Pink Gucci Shorts à la Juergen Teller
Don't talk to me about shorts unless they're a proper pair of teeny-tiny thigh-grazers. Summers are getting hotter (hello, global warming) and there’s no use in covering up: Get those legs out.
The case for men’s short-shorts hasn’t been this strong since the ‘80s, when diminutive bottoms reigned supreme. Celebrities like Paul Mescal and Donald Glover started the modern-day resurgence of shrunken shorts, putting their thighs in the limelight at every opportunity, but those of us who have long prescribed to the "the shorter the shorts, the closer to God" philosophy, have a different style icon. Photographer Juergen Teller is a trailblazer for many reasons, one of which is that he's flown the flag for tiny shorts long before TikTok got ahold of them (in fact, long before TikTok was invented).
Teller's personal favorite flavor of sporty 'lil shorts come in the pink variety, which just so happens to be the type that Gucci has co-opted this season. Coincidence? Maybe, but it sure says something about Teller's ability to know what's good.
-Tom Barker, Style Editor
Prada Sneakers So Unstructured They’re Gonna Collapse
Time after time, Prada proves itself the king of everything, from covetable accessories to statement shoes to luxuriously stylish space suits (yes, this was a thing). Now, the Italian label once again flexes its sartorial skills with the Collapse, fashion’s flattest sneaker.
Prada’s new shoe is made from the label’s famous Re-Nylon, a regenerated nylon that can be continuously recycled without sacrificing its quality. True to its name, the Collapse features an ultra thinned-out sole and intentionally crumpled upper. Suede accents appear deliberately aged, giving the sneaker a retro look.
It’s a flat sneaker world out there, and Prada is living in it like the rest of us. The Collapse is but another addition to the plethora of other low-sole models ruling the fashion game, like adidas’ rebirthed Japan sneaker, Miu Miu’s fantastically flattened New Balance 530s, and PUMA’s slimmed-out Speedcat.
It all started in Spring/Summer 2024, as brands embraced flat shoes like ballet slippers and flip-flops — shoes that would’ve previously gotten you a ticket from the fashion police. Flat shoe mania then trickled into the sneaker category, inspiring brands to pluck their most classic, flat-out sneakers from the archives. Or, in Prada’s case, devise an entirely new, smushed sneaker from scratch.
-Morgan Smith, Style Writer
No, This Isn’t a Paper Louis Vuitton Shopping Bag
Louis Vuitton has eschewed accessory design altogether, and instead opted for deluxe dupes of paper shopping bags and cardboard belt boxes. I get the joke. Do you?
Marcel Duchamp's 'Fountain’ pissoir set it off, Martin Margiela's sock sweater made it wearable, and Demna's DHL polos and Balenciaga-fied Frakta totes mainstreamed it: the aestheticization of absurdly everyday objects and garments.
Paying homage to its predecessors, Louis Vuitton’s dadaist purses take a jab at themselves by obscuring the boundaries between creation, caricature, and counterfeit. The irony innate to designs like this — from Dapper Dan’s make-believe Gucci track jackets to Supreme’s fire extinguishers — teases the eyes, mind, and wallet of the beholder.
Disguised as the stuff they’d typically be packaged in, LV’s leather goods are both trying and not trying to be mistaken for anything other, deeper, or more serious than what they present as. One can't help but smile when one of the most revered and mimicked brands on earth shrugs and invites us to laugh with them as they plaster their markers of luxury onto quotidian surfaces.
Get it now?
-Maximilian Migowski, Shopping Editor
Your Favorite Content Creator’s Favorite Accessory
Ask anyone under the age of 15 what they want to be when they grow up, and the answers you receive might perplex you. The aspirations of our youth have shifted once again, as they tend to do between generations. Forget astronauts, lawyers, and doctors — for a new generation of strivers, it’s all about streaming, influencing, and boosting that view count, baby.
But no matter your ambitions, anyone can agree: If you’re going to do something, do it right.
Investing in quality equipment is the first step in becoming the next hyper-niche micro-influencer with a loyal following of internet stans. With its compact and intuitive design, DJI’s wireless microphone is every content creator's most essential accessory. As beginner-friendly as they come, this small piece of audio equipment will make any budding online commentator sound like they’ve been in the game for years.
So to all the young dreamers out there, don’t waste any more time — get down to business. Just please, no more outfit breakdown videos. We’ve had our fill.
-Jason Meggyesy, Branded Content Editor
Balenciaga's Windshield for Your Face
If there’s one thing that Demna taught us with his SS25 collection, it’s that eye contact is overrated. Why subject others to your facial expressions when you can instead hide behind a supervillainous visor that looks as if it’s been plucked straight from some Y2K gaming universe?
There’s a wonderful paradox at work here: By obscuring your identity, you’ll instantly become the most recognizable person in a five-mile radius. (Unless you’re attending a Balenciaga show, but that’s a technicality.) Part sunglass, part beak, and part shrunken-down stealth jet windshield, Balenciaga’s visor makes the oversized, bug-eye glasses trend of yesteryear look positively medieval.
How to style it? Well, if you’re really brave, you could follow the runway’s lead and complement it with a bit of exposed stomach and a pair of black tights and garters. Or you could just whack on a black hoodie. Your call.
-Justin Kendall, Branded Editor
A Workplace-Approved Tiny Cartier
We know that you know that the current trend du jour of wristwear is all about small watches. Thanks to a rise in vintage timepieces, shoppers are hungry for sizes that hug the wrist instead of dominating it: think lug-to-lugs around 32mm. Scroll through your For You Page, and it's clear — petite horology isn't just a trend; it's a movement.
So where do we go after they go small? We go mini, obviously.
The Cartier Tank Mini “Louis Cartier” takes horology's biggest trend and miniaturizes it. At just 24mm by 16.5mm, this 18k gold timepiece is an elegant, bite-sized version of its larger, full-bodied Tank siblings. Deliciously tiny, it still features the iconic watch’s greatest hits. Sloping case? Check. Minimal dial? Check. Art Deco vibes? Absolutely.
In a world full of Tanks and Tank dupes, the Cartier Tank Mini “Louis Cartier” proves that downsizing is the ultimate power move.
-Donovan Barnett, Watch Editor & Senior Growth Strategist
A Car To Drive Everywhere, From Le Mans to New York
Since its introduction in 1963, Porsche’s 911 series has undergone a bevy of upgrades: improved aerodynamics, revamped digital instrumentation, enhanced pressure adjustment, and more (we don’t need to list them all). But most impressive is how the legendary line has remained true to the spirit of the original 911 — which founder Ferry Porsche once said is “the only car with which you can race on safari in Africa or at Le Mans, go to the theater or drive the streets of New York” — throughout the decades.
Like its predecessors, the most recent iteration of the iconic sports car, the 2025 992.2, is unmistakably Porsche. With its signature teardrop silhouette and flat-six rear engine, the car evokes the form and function of the OG 91, designed by Ferry’s son Ferdinand Porsche.
Yet, the 2025 992.2 isn’t resting on its laurels. It features next-gen bells and whistles like active aerodynamics, hybrid-ready architecture (a hint at Porsche’s electrified future), and PDK transmission. The car’s elegant curves, roaring engine, and effortless precision remind us why the 911 remains a universal symbol of luxury.
-Riccardo Zazzini, Editorial Growth Writer
An Incognito Office Commute, the Balenciaga Way
No one does identity-obscuring accessories quite like Balenciaga. We’ve seen (or missed) the visages of Pharell and Rihanna hidden behind the brand’s comically large sunglasses— and now it’s time for Balenciaga’s extra-long-brimmed trucker cap to do the honors.
Instead of sitting atop the wearer’s head, Balenciaga’s new headgear covers the entire face with ridiculously big panels that stretch below the eyes (don’t worry, they’re perforated for visibility) and a brim that shrouds the mouth and nose. It’s a go-to for those who appreciate a bit of anonymity. Is that Kim K under the brim? Was it Biebs or Beckham at LAX last night? With the cap on, there’s no way the paparazzi will ever find out.
If you like mystery, or just fancy blocking out the springtime sun, this cap has your name (and Balenciaga’s) written all over it.
-Ruhi Parmar Amin, Senior Editor, Branded Content
