Shoes for the summer
A spot for rare footwear nobody knows about, and my favorite shoes for the summer you can buy right now.
There’s never been a better time to spend your hard earned money on a pair of new shoes. The great outdoors are calling, and whether you’re going to be by a body of water, in the wilderness, or simply trotting through the city, your feet deserve some love.
As you may have guessed it, today’s letter is all about shoes, and while I don’t really have any quirky phrases to get us excited about summer footwear, what I do have are recommendations for shoes that I like right now.
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THE EVERYDAY
The army trainer is probably the most common shoe style you can actually notice on the streets. Despite their popularity, I still believe that they’re a solid choice with lots of life left. Plus, these make for a great daily option that costs under $150. You can’t go wrong with that.
Some colorways are a bit played out, but this all-black Adidas BW Army still does the trick for me. I think this is a colorway that we should see in North America soon, but if you don’t want to wait they are available internationally in huge size runs over at spots like Highs and Lows, and Up There Store — there is also a pair of these canvas upper ones that look pretty fun.
FOR THE WILD
I hope all of us get to touch some grass this summer, and we do it in a pair of Tarvas Easy Hikers. These did sell out like absolute hot cakes on the Tarvas website, but luckily Haven and Tarvas got together on an Easy Hiker that’s currently available on their site here.
It’s definitely a shoe that might fit tight at first, but the upper will loosen up and mold to top of your foot pretty quickly as you start wearing them regularly. This is where you get to feel how comfortable shoes from Tarvas can really be.
While they are perfectly fine for the summer, you can easily transform these as your daily fall shoe without issues — this is definitely a model more people ask about right now.
QUICK 6
Blazers are probably some of the most comfortable skate shoes, but you don’t need to be a skater to enjoy these. Skate shoes make for great daily beaters — good comfort, not that expensive, and a lot of good options. Plus, once that suede breaks in on the Blazers a little bit, that’s when they start looking real good.
I’m surprised how polarizing the Vans Authentic Ease seems to be online. Thankfully, we don’t live on the internet and have free will. They seem to be available in random stores, so I recommend doing a little search, but here’s a pair on Ssense with a few sizes left.
The online exclusive Warm Skies 740 by New Balance might make for a great new gym shoe — the 740 is extremely underrated, has great comfort that gives you solid grip and overall support throughout the foot.
I was surprised at how much I wore the Arcteryx Konseal. It became a daily for me as I would run errands that required me getting dirty a little bit — here at SNL we’re not just writing about clothes, we’re also moving stuff for whatever reason. Anyway, good price, true to size, made really well, and just sort of blended in well with any outfit. Good for some random side-quests or your go-to hiking option.
Reproduction of Found Canadian Army Trainer is a must-cop for me. Cordura upper for that extra layer of durability. It has this hiking aesthetic that I like, but not in a way that fits into a specific style category, making these feel more authentic. There’s also a dark brown version available in a few sizes here.
If you can secure a pair of Village PM’s before they sell out, I highly recommend you do so. I did find a couple of colors available over at Slam Jam here.
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A FAMILIAR SPINOFF
Deviation is a South Korean footwear brand that specializes in reimagining popular styles of the moment, and they do it well. South Korea’s footwear manufacturing scene began in the 80s, but has been recently going through a technical resurgence that has helped create more made-in-South Korea brands that make great shoes for modest prices.
The price for the quality is honestly surprising — every model uses Vibram soles, giving that extra bit of comfort and quality control. While the quality is great, you shouldn’t be expecting like a true mind bending experience. You’re going to look at these and say, yeah it’s totally a solid shoe for the $140.
I’ve had several pairs of my own and they’ve all been extremely comfortable without any defects or any signs of falling apart.
Shoes are made to order, which takes a couple of weeks, but they will always have your size — unless you’re above a size 13, then you’re out of luck, sorry about that. I’d say their sizing is pretty much on the nose, so go with your regular size.
Check out the full selection on their website here.
THE CLASSIC CHOICE
It’s nice to see a brand like New Balance gain new momentum with new styles while actively keeping the classic models in conversation to this day. I mean, getting a pair of 991v2’s in 2026 is still a huge mood. I also love that they’ve kept running their Made-in-USA and Made-in-UK lines active — between you and me, I think their UK line is the stronger choice.
I wanted to pick out a couple of favorites, but they are honestly all really good in their own way — it’s not often you can visit a brand and enjoy every single style, but New Balance has seemed to figure it out in a way that actually requires me to think which style I might go for.
FOR THOSE THAT NEED SOMETHING DIFFERENT
I’m sharing my secret spot for those looking to get more rare styles from some of our favorite brands. Something that you might not see on the street that easily.
Digital Mountain’s selection spans from sneakers down to flip-flops. They have international shipping via Paypal, making the experience pretty seamless — for US orders I believe it’s around $40 for shipping from Japan.
I find this to be a solid spot that has a good amount of variety of shoes that might be sold out elsewhere, while also providing an opportunity to cop more rare styles that are not as wildly available in North America or Europe.
Yes, you’re going to have to do a little bit of work translating and completing your order, but those who put some muscle into it will be rewarded with good shoes — they are also having a sale right now, so it’s going to be worth it.
I was really excited about the next installment of The Broken Arm and Salomon partnership, but after doing a quick search on the model, I was left a bit let down — that top down view is crazy good, but things don’t feel so good after seeing that side profile. I don’t know, maybe I’ll sleep on it and see how I feel, but as of right now this one isn’t for me.
What do you think about them?
Love the new Salomon RX-ENRO UCHI
just here to say the Vans Authentic Ease is a great shoe and i'm equally surprised at how polarizing they are. i copped a pair in both black and white and love the way they look, not to mention how comfortable they are. i think the black is the superior colorway, but the white is a great alternative for the summer if you want something just a little different than the classic canvas version.