The 10 Sneakers To Watch Out For In 2026

Last year was shocking for sneaker enthusiasts at every level. Whether you are a casual fan looking for your cozy pair that does not require too much hassle to pick up beyond heading to a local store or a dedicated sneakerhead who is up to date and keeps the Sole Retriever app on their phone’s home screen, the diverse array of releases in 2025 from both the usual brand suspects and the shocking upstarts meant that there was something for everybody. And more appears to be on the way in 2026.

Besides the highly anticipated collaborations from Jordan Brand that are looking to tap into the energy of previous hits, there are a handful of signature shoe debuts that are bound to spark a ton of conversation that goes beyond the world of sneakers, and the biggest sneaker free agent in a very long time could be making their decision of where to go to next sooner rather than later. Or it might be later rather than sooner with all the fun he’s been having. Let’s check out our picks for the most interesting sneaker to keep an eye on in 2026.

10. Under Armour Curry 13

Release Date: February 2026

No, not because people actually want the shoe. The damage has already been done and Steph Curry has all but denied the existence of the shoe and Under Armour just like Kyrie Irving and the Nike Kyrie 8 all over again. What will be interesting about the sneaker is how Under Armour treats the release. Despite cleaning house over at Curry Brand, will they honor Steph and the great years they had together or will it be a contractually obligated release that gets no publicity and fanfare because they don’t care and are more concerned with the future? Either direction they take is going to result in a lot of chatter in the sneaker world.

9. Nike Ja 3 Jurassic Park

Release Date: April 2026

Ja Morant’s third signature is one of the breakout basketball sneakers of 2025, and 2026 is looking to be even bigger with a highly anticipated collab with Jurassic Park. Normally, a team-up with a movie property would be a cause for concern because the result can be lazy and uninspired, but the Ja 3’s aggressive design makes it a perfect fit. The collab will consist of three colorways that are inspired by the film’s logo, laboratories, and most strikingly, the iconic Dilophosaurus. If only that particular colorway didn’t look like an exact replica of the Reebok Instapump Fury in 2021.

8. adidas BadBo 1.0

Release Date: Spring 2026

Signature shoes are typically reserved for athletes, but as Kanye West and Travis Scott have proven, if an artist can break through in a way that makes them undeniable, the brands will be there to support them. Reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny is next in line after years of working with adidas on a number of high-profile collabs spread across a large portion of the Originals catalog. With Benito scheduled to perform what is looking to be the most emotionally and politically charged Super Bowl Halftime Show of all time, that’s going to be a great time to give everybody a closer look at what’s only been teased and shown cryptically on social media and at various shows.

7. The Return of the Air Jordan Premio Bin23 Series

Release Date: Spring (Air Jordan 6); Summer (Air Jordan 3); Fall (Air Jordan 8)

In 2010, Jordan Brand introduced the Premio Bin23 series of sneakers, which pushed the retros that we were so familiar with and transformed them into walking pieces of art. Produced with premium materials like they were handcrafted from a high luxury fashion house in Italy, the Bin23 series earned praise for its efforts to elevate the perception of Michael Jordan’s sneakers, but also criticism for their exorbitant $175 price tag. That’s not a typo. The retail price of “elevated” Air Jordans in 2010 is cheaper than the retail price of general release retros in 2026. Obviously, there are various real-world factors that explain such a dramatic leap, but what should raise a lot of eyebrows is the reported $350 for the Bin23 sneakers dropping this year, double the price of the original series.

6. Union x fragment design x Air Jordan 1

Release Date: Spring 2026

Union’s collaboration with the Air Jordan 1 in 2018 was a legendary effort from Chris Gibbs and company to transform the iconic sneaker into something that nobody knew that they wanted. Hiroshi Fujiwara’s collaboration through his fragment design label on the Air Jordan 1 in 2014 kicked off what would be known as the remastered series and changed the expectations for what consumers expect from their retros.

Commanding sky-high prices at resale, both collaborations set the bar very high for those to follow. Well, it looks like they want to raise that standard even higher by doing it themselves with a triple threat collaboration. The project consists of three regional exclusive releases that combine fragment design’s subtle shifts in color blocking to create something unexpectedly cool and Union’s Frankenstein approach that grafts mismatching collars and uppers of classic Air Jordan onto each other.

5. Levi’s x Air Jordan 3

Release Date: Spring 2026

First teased by Spike Lee back in November, the next chapter in Nike and Jordan Brand’s undefeated (but not UNDFTD) collaborations with Levi’s continues with the Air Jordan 3. Unlike the Levi’s x Air Jordan 4 collaborations from 2018 that featured all-denim uppers in varying shades, the Jordan 3s will add leather and pony hair and elephant print to the equation.

For those who enjoyed the customization aspect of the Air Jordan 4s and were hoping for the same situation with the Air Jordan 3, it might come off as a slight disappointment that it won’t be the case. Expect at least four different versions of the Levi’s x Air Jordan 3 to hit shelves in the early part of the year.

4. Nigel Sylvester’s Air Jordan 4 Fire Red Collaboration

Release Date: Summer 2026

After a stunning 2025 that saw Nigel Sylvester’s profile at Jordan Brand soar thanks to his mega hit Air Jordan 4 Brick by Brick collaboration, the sneaker world is eagerly anticipating what the next step is. While more could be revealed over the next several months, another Air Jordan 4 based on the iconic Fire Red colorway is in the works. After the success of the Brick By Brick collab that was preceded by the introduction of the Air Jordan 4 RM, will fans start to feel some fatigue with Nigel’s reliance on the 4s

3. Steph Curry’s _____ PE

Release Date: ?

The betting odds* are that once Steph Curry is exhausted from having to come up with something new to wear every time out, he will settle down with his brand of choice and get to work on the future. Steph’s new brand will probably not have a new signature shoe ready for him to rock as soon as possible, but he should get the player exclusive treatment that will eventually make their way to stores in a similar fashion to Kyrie Irving and Tyrese Haliburton when they made moves recently.

*This is for entertainment purposes only and should not be treated as betting advice. As someone who just learned about predictive markets recently, it might be time to retire that cliche before writers get treated like athletes.

2. Air Jordan 11 Space Jam

Release Date: Holiday 2026

Here’s a bold take: the Air Jordan 11 Space Jam will be the top-grossing sneaker of 2026. Ok, it’s not that bold of a take, but the impact of Jordan Brand bringing back the Space Jam 11s for its fourth go around cannot be understated. No matter what level of excitement surrounds Jordan Brand at any given time, they can always count on the power of a popular holiday Air Jordan 11 to win the day. The massive success of last year’s Air Jordan 11 Gamma drop proved that despite anybody over the age of 30 thinking they were not going to be a big deal, there is a contingent of Gen-Zers out there who consider the Gammas their OGs. However, the Space Jams are on a whole different level thanks to their pop culture connection and what is sure to be another big push by the brand to celebrate MJ, Bugs, and the rest of the Tune Squad.

1. Caitlin Clark’s First Nike Signature Shoe

Release Date: Hopefully 2026

Caitlin Clark’s first signature shoe might be the most anticipated drop of 2026 (It is coming out in 2026, right? Right?). Bigger than Grand Theft Auto 6, bigger than Avengers: Doomsdays, bigger than (redacted because this is a sneaker blog). Is that a little facetious? Un poco, but not by that much. Nike has had two years to research, design, build, scrap, build again, and tease the signature shoe of the most consequential American athlete of the 2020s. There are logos, merch, commercials, and hints from Caitlin herself about what the shoe consists of. It’s everything but the sneaker itself. Not even the Air Jordan 1 or the Nike Air Zoom Generation had this much pressure attached to it. But we are in a different time now.

Caitlin Clark is not just a sports icon, she’s a cultural one as well whether she wants to be or not (spoiler: she doesn’t and probably wishes we would all just let her hoop while being a typical superstar athlete that doesn’t incite culture wars). People are going to project their entire personality onto this shoe and its perceived success or failure. Sales figures for shoes are going to be discussed like they’re box office returns for a major movie or book sales of a controversial figure. Something as innocuous as a price drop or a move to the outlet is going to be a sign that she’s a failure and not just following the protocol of literally every signature shoe that came before it.

Are there people out there who are going to make the decision to buy or not buy Caitlin’s shoe because of their political leanings? Sadly and annoyingly, yes. Will you see the best people and the worst people wear them not because they think Caitlin is a great player but because they want to troll the other side? Absolutely. It's not just about sneakers anymore because that’s the world we live in. I hate this for us.

Juan Martinez

From video game journalism to veteran of the sneaker blog era to podcasting about well, everything, Juan is smiling through it all and can't believe this is his life. After recently getting into Formula 1, he now has hot takes about who the greatest driver of all time is. Email: juan@soleretriever.com