The 10 Most Stylish Sneakerheads

These guys always get more than just their sneakers right.

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Complex Original

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As you scroll though your Instagram feed, you'll probably notice your timeline is filled with sneakerheads holding major heat. It's not too difficult to cop the obvious hyped-up essentials for your wardrobe, but it's very easy to look like every other clone on the 'net. Whether you're grabbing the latest from Kanye's Yeezy Season 1 or top fashion houses, spending that cash will not guarantee you're a stylish person. Everyone finds inspiration from different places, and we don’t advise straight up jacking someone else’s steez. But when you're looking for #styleinspo, these are some of the guys you can look to.

It's one thing to have a great pair of sneakers, but it takes the special touch to make them complement the rest of your 'fit. The designers, owners and creative directors of your favorite brands obviously have great taste, but these guys take it a step further and show it in their personal style, as well. Here are The 10 Most Stylish Sneakerheads Right Now. 


Ronnie Fieg

Title: Owner, Kith 
Instagram: @ronniefieg

Ronnie Fieg knows what he wants, and the "Just Us" mentality he's assigned to his brand, Kith, has allowed him to cook up some of the best clothes out there right now for himself and friends. Fieg's personal style makes Kith much more than the typical logo-printed tees and hoodies that we tend to see from a retailer-first entity. He was a key influencer in the move toward slim athletic cuts and fabrics with an upscale twist in the streetwear scene. Pairing his Mercer pants with his collaboration runners helped shift the trend away from bulky high-top sneakers and denim. He’s given his followers a look inside his endless Kith gear and sneaker collection on a few occasions—​and it’s more than just on the Internet, racking up style and design co-signs from his peers like John Elliott, Chris Stampd, and even Kanye West.


 

Motofumi "Poggy" Kogi

Title: Creative Director, UNITED ARROWS & SONS
​Instagram:@poggytheman

People like to think they are early when it comes to trends, but Poggy has been a style icon in Japan’s scene longer than you have been trolling eBay for pairs of VVVNDS retros. The creative director of UNITED ARROWS & SONS—remember the collabs Yeezy rocked?—respectfully started from the bottom as sales assistant and worked his way up to become a leader in the industry. The juxtaposition of his clean, somewhat rugged essentials (including his signature wide-brim hat) has made his style unique and nearly impossible to confidently emulate.


 

Isimeme “Easy” Otabor

Title: Operator/Co-buyer, RSVP Gallery
Instagram: @easyotaber

Isimeme "Easy" Otabor is almost the living movement of everything Kanye was rapping about on Watch The Throne, but he was doing it way before the album even came to fruition. One of the main people who made RSVP Gallery and Just Don’s snapbacks successful, Easy has been the muscle behind some of the biggest trends of the past five years. His blend of Goyard and Yeezy Season 1 is a perfect example of how to mesh high-end with streetwear without looking like a hypebeast starter kit. And the dude is just effortlessly cool in an era where everyone else is so loud about their “accomplishments” and latest pickups.


 

John Geiger

Title: Designer
Instagram: @johngeiger_

John Gieger’s name has been ringing out for a few years. Recently, his updates to the Nike Air Force 1, in collaboration with The Shoe Surgeon, caught everyone’s attention and is making the sneaker as relevant as when Nelly needed two purrs. While other customizers were cooking up the same tired custom paint jobs, Geiger and The Shoe Surgeon—whose real name is Dominic Chambrone—flipped a classic and made it better. His style is about more than just the sneakers, though: He started ditching his Balmain biker jeans for a more personal collection of garments, too. Geiger's collaborated on clothing lines, including teaming up with the good homie, Davin Gentry at Premium Co., for a small run on the label's latest line. Geiger has been wearing long hemlines and ripped jeans long before Zara and H&M started jacking those trends. Instead of just being known as someone who is early on waves, the notice brands have taken could help him shape trends in the future.


 

Tyjuan "Regular Ol Ty" Mathis

Title: Owner, All Things Regular​
Instagram:@regularolty

Those who know Tyjuan Mathis, known on the Internet as "Regular Ol Ty," can see how his style is easily summed up as cool and classic. He's shown sneakerheads how to look grown up while maintaining their street edge since the early days of graphic T-shirts paired with matching fitted hats on NikeTalk. The Cincinnati-native-turned-Chicagoan has such a diverse style, that you can spot him in Ralph Lauren pieces with chinos one day, and the next he breaks out the ill Mitchell and Ness or Nike throwback jerseys (non-3XL version) with crisp denim. No matter what he puts together, he does it without having to be all up on the latest “it” label or spending $300+ on a piece to look dope. We have even seen Ty flip J.C. Penney pieces and make it look fresh—not an easy feat. And his sneaker game is so serious. It doesn’t hurt that dude is a sample size 9 in sneakers and has a few plugs at major brands to keep the rotation on point so he can throw stacks at his Polo game.


 

Tareq "KicksTq" Q

Title: Influencer
Instagram:@kicksTQ

Fresh on the scene from Kuwait, Tareq Q has been killing the #OutfitGrid game to become a staple of how you want your minimalist sneaker and style shots to look. His mix of luxury and street looks like a style editor’s vision board. Bluntly, Tareq’s Instagram looks like every hypebeast’s wet dream—the Saint Laurent boots, Yeezy Season 1, and every Nike and adidas Yeezy colorway complete a collection of everything you screenshot and wait online for, only to become a victim of “sadderday.”


 

Jacob Keller

Title: Manager, Machus
​Instagram:@jacobjkeller

Jacob Keller took his passion for flashing and used that momentum to help him land roles and partnerships with top companies and retailers, such as Jordan Brand. He built a large following on YouTube by showing sneaker fans how to properly dress up their footwear, where his dark, grunge vibes separate him from others in the same space. Keller’s Instagram might be one of the best ones out there, going with affordable, up-and-coming, and unknown brands versus always jumping on the latest trendy labels that tend to be a bit pricey for most millennials. That’s not a reflection on Keller’s ability to pop tags at ignorant spending levels, as much as it’s proof that he likes to carve his own style lane. Power moves might be an understatement—he's truly a story of how, with the right energy and strategy, you could land your dream gig (and a lot of free product, too).


 

Teddy Santis

Title: Owner, Aimé Leon Dore
Instagram:@teddysantis

It didn’t take long for Aimé Leon Dore to become a staple in everyone’s closets after Teddy Santis launched the brand in 2014. The minimalist designs and cozy aesthetics make his crewnecks and sweats a must for anyone trying to look fresh and “expensive” without losing that slumming-on-the-couch comfort. And when the clothing line you created is quickly adopted by all the cool kids, why would you wear anything else? OK, maybe you'd sport pair of sneakers that your homie Ronnie Fieg slides over, the newest Yeezys, and Air Jordan 1s. There are leaders and there are followers, and Santis is clearly leading by example with his luxury essentials.


 

Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne

Titles: Co-founders, Public School 
Instagrams:@alldaydaoyi and @maxwellosborne

Ask your favorite streetwear designer which brand they respect the most, and Public School is going to get the nod. Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow got their education at Diddy’s house, helping to make Sean John a success. Lately, the duo have been putting in the work for their own brand, even taking their craft to a few highly coveted Jordan Brand collaborative collections and one of the best sneakers of 2015 with their take on the Air Jordan XII. We know you want to try to pair your Js with a blazer or tux, but you might want to take notes from Dao and Maxwell before you do—these guys are doing it right. Pro Tip: Start your own fashion label, get really, really good at making clothes, and your closet is going to be envy of basically everyone who doesn’t shop at Hollister.


 

Mike "Upscale Vandal" Camargo

Title: Sales and marketing consultant
Instagram: @upscale_vandal

There’s no future in frontin,’ and Mike Camargo, known by his followers as Upscale Vandal, is really about that life. Take one look at his social feed and you can see that he has mad limited-edition pieces and essentials that likely cost more than your rent check. High-end labels subtly had him stunting​ all over the 'gram, with O.G. Bape hoodies and sneakers to round out the look. Don’t get it twisted, you can definitely buy the same pieces, but having the right connects and being able to layer them without looking like you're doing the most is also a major key to Mike's look. Roll with the winners.