The North Face Resurrects The Ultimate Elderly Hiking Sneaker
Long before hiking sneakers had been made universally cool, or the word gorpcore had been uttered by a city-dwelling GORE-TEX devotee, the sneakers that dominated the mountains looked like The North Face Hedgehog 06.
These were chunky, unbelievably robust, and entirely uncool sneakers. They were shoes you wore for functionality and no fashion boutique would dream of stocking them.
Reissued for 2024, the Hedgehog 06 (in case you missed it, 06 refers to 2006, the year the shoe was first released) is making a return.
And this time around, it’s fashionable stores who are first in line to get them: END., Overkill, BSTN, Slam Jam, this very magazine’s retail platform… they all have the old-school hiking sneaker in stock, retailing for $200. How times change.
Retaining the chunky look of the original 2006 model, the shoe features molded TPU hardware and toe protection, tell-tale signs of a proper sturdy outdoor shoe. It also has a waterproof GORE-TEX OAK bootie, made with 100% recycled fabric, to prevent wet feet.
The dad shoe sub-genre of sneakers — chunky silhouettes previously worn almost exclusively by comfort-seeking middle-aged men — continues to be a focus for all big sneaker labels. Nike has its rugged hiking-worthy dad shoe, adidas has the sporty Adistar, New Balance has countless dad shoes (some of which have even become loafers), and ASICS also has multiple elderly sneakers to choose from — it’s only right that The North Face joins in the action.
The American outdoor label has long been synonymous with cold-weather-defeating puffer jackets, however, its sneaker output is not to be scoffed at, just take a look at The North Face’s breezy summer sandals and experimental trail shoes.
Now, The North Face has an elderly dad shoe to rival the best of them.
