Gen Zers are spending hundreds of dollars on dirty sneakers, and parents are shocked

• Gen Z is reviving Golden Goose sneakers, valued for their shabby chic design.
• Critics question the appeal of the distressed look, but fans love their comfort and style.

Golden Goose sneakers were condemned as "cheugy" a few years ago. But Gen Z is bringing them back.

Young people have developed a taste for the shabby chic design of purposefully dirty-looking Golden Goose shoes, which can set them back $500 or more.

On Net-A-Porter, the most expensive Golden Goose shoe costs just over $1,000, while the cheapest is $420.

On Golden Goose's official site, prices go up to $2,350, though customers on social media have reported even higher sums when they go for custom designs.

The brand was founded in 2000 by Italian designers Francesca Rinaldo and Alessandro Gallo. They launched their sneakers in 2007 with the Super-Star model.

According to the fashion retailer Coggles, the beaten-up look is supposed "to demonstrate a nonchalant attitude rather than an unkempt aesthetic."

Interest in Golden Goose sneakers was bubbling among Zoomers last summer and seems to have boomed in 2024.

Other brands, including Balenciaga, Gucci, and Adidas, have dabbled in the distressed sneaker trend, though Golden Goose seems to have cornered the market with hundreds of designs and achieved mass appeal in a way that others haven't.

On TikTok, Golden Gooses are trending, with young consumers loving the aesthetic. Enthusiasts say they are the comfiest shoes they've ever worn, with some describing an addiction to the brand they just can't shake.

Critics say buying Golden Goose sneakers must be a "social experiment" because they can't understand a desire to buy anything that's so dirty and beaten up.

But those who get it just "get it," fans say in response — once a devotee, always a devotee.

Some Golden Goose disciples say they've been questioned about why they would buy dirty shoes, particularly for hundreds of dollars.

But the cool factor seems to lie in their lack of concern. Golden Gooses are becoming a status symbol among young women and men.

In 2024, Panda Dunks are out, and Super-Stars are in.

This is reflected in sales. Net revenues rose 18% in 2023 compared to a year earlier, according to the fashion retail outlet Drapers. Bloomberg recently valued the company at €3.3 billion and reported that it will likely go public in Milan this week. BI has contacted Golden Goose for comment.

Business Insider reported that Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, and Hilary Duff are among the shoes' fans. This could factor into investor estimates of the company's valuation being 11 times this year's forecasted earnings.

In December, Golden Goose's CEO, Silvio Campara, told the Financial Times that the company's customers were largely young people and that 80% could be defined as Gen Z or millennials.

Parents aren't as thrilled, though. In one recent TikTok, posted by content creator Sydney Schiffer, she recorded her dad calling her "insane" when he learned how much her Golden Gooses had cost.

"The youth of today," he exclaimed. "It boggles my friggin' mind, there's a company that literally makes sneakers look old and worn?"

When Schiffer's mom noted ripped jeans are in style too, her father asked: "Why don't you just buy my old sneakers?"

Schiffer explained herself in a follow-up video, saying she agreed her love of Golden Goose shoes was irrational because she thought they were "ugly for the longest time."

"Especially for the price, the price is like, makes me want to throw up," she said.

However, when she saw one particular pair, she fell in love.

Schiffer showed off her new sneakers, which were characteristically scuffed and a nude-ish grey color — akin to old sneakers that have been stuffed into multiple suitcases and trudged through dirt over years' worth of vacations.

But, she said, they were the most comfortable shoes she'd ever worn, and they go with every outfit.

"They come dirty, so I don't care when I get them dirty," she said. "These last a lifetime. You don't have to clean them because as they get dirty, they just look more and more like a Golden Goose sneaker."

For this reason, they are good value and she will get her money's worth, Schiffer added.

"Especially by the time I'm 50, and I'm still wearing these."