The Female Designers That ATE in 2023
There’s no denying that 2023 has been an odd year sneaker-wise. Amid all the ongoing , the criticisms surrounding the lack of innovation at , and the emergence of younger, disruptive brands in the sportstyle category, the sneaker scene has never felt more fragmented. But that’s not a bad thing. As more and more people look to expand their horizons from the usual Dunks, Jays and Sambas, it’s also made things much easier for upcoming designers to truly shine – particularly the female ones.
In fact, we’d probably go as far as saying that 2023 has been the best year for female designers ever. Often relegated to a few choice silhouettes, this year has been all about trusting women to set the trends, instead of having to settle for following them. Would the be as big right now if it hadn’t been for ? Absolutely not. Did help introduce a whole new audience to sneakers? We’ll bet on it. Is there really a lack of innovation in sneakers, or are we just looking in the wrong places? Take a guess. So, from dedicated Women’s World Cup collections to one brand’s first-ever female-led colab, here are the female designers that ATE in 2023.
Yoon Ahn
founder has blessed us with a whole load of heat throughout 2023, so let’s get into it. Kicking things off nice and early in the year, Ahn continued her string of Air Force 1 colabs. Boasting her signature extended Swooshes, these came in both black and white colourways and made for an edgy take on standard Forces.
Ahn then seemed to spend most of her year travelling to and from Nike’s HQ as the joint projects kept coming. During that time, we managed to about what made her partnership with the brand so special. ‘I have become that person that challenges them and they also challenge me,’ she says. ‘Nike is so big, so how do you make beautiful products that can hit the masses? I think people often view design as being complicated and hitting very few people in the world. I think that's a way easier job than being able to make beautiful product that can resonate with almost a billion people. That's the even bigger challenge. So, it’s been very fun. I've been learning so much about Nike and the impact of this brand.’
As summer rolled around, Ahn got stuck into the Swoosh’s Women’s World Cup celebrations and created a concise capsule offering that included jerseys and a football. She even pulled out all the stops for the campaign imagery, tapping the likes of Gabriette, Princess Gollum and Arta Gee, and putting a dark femme spin on what’s usually a male-dominated sport. Finally, she dropped her 2023 magnum opus: a new, low-top version of the Nike Air More Uptempo, which came in a selection of carefully curated colourways. We’re still struck by just how clean the initial sample pair was, and we would love to see the same colourway drop next year.
Eliya Jackson
Eliya Jackson had a killer year in 2023, and we know she’s one to watch over the next 12 months. Having started her journey in adidas’ S.E.E.D program, Jackson went on to work on adidas’ collaboration and adidas Basketball.
Alongside working on the adidas Forum Mod Low (a fresh take on a classic that only a budding new designer would be able to deliver), Jackson also had a hand in the adidas Crazy IIInfinity – one of this year’s most daring silhouettes. Building on the Crazy 1, and the original starting point of an Audi TT, Jackson and co have managed to usher in the next generation of Basketball shoes. If you still think sneakers are lacking in innovation, you’re just looking in the wrong category.
Cecilie Bahnsen
If you didn’t know who Cecilie Bahnsen was last year, we bet you do now. The Copenhagen native has taken the sneaker scene by storm in 2023, and according to Google Trends interest in her brand has shot up 80 per cent since this time last year – that’s a pretty impressive trajectory.
Towards the end of 2022, Bahnsen kicked off a partnership with , and her first collection offered up a selection of upcycled silhouettes. Each pair boasted hand-sewn flower details, and to absolutely nobody’s surprise, they went super viral on TikTok. The ‘ceciliebahnsenasics’ hashtag has over 3.9 million views, and the release even spurred on a trend where users DIY-d their own pairs. Then, in July 2023, the duo dropped two ASICS GT-2160 colourways designed to look like Mary Janes. The style perfectly channelled the coquette vibes that TikTok users are so enamoured with, and the duo went viral all over again. As it stands, the silver could even set you back $900 at resale.
This was then followed up with two more GT-2160 colourways in November, which (thankfully) saw a wider release, but we’re pretty sure that’s not the end for the duo either, as the designer presented a new ASICS GEL-Quantum at her SS24 show. about her partnership with the brand, Bahnsen said: ‘It's been really incredible. Every time we look at a colab, I see them as both a long-term thing. So you enter this because you want to do it for a good while together, and build something, and learn from each other, and develop your universe together.’
Grace Wales Bonner
Where do we start with Grace Wales Bonner? She might have missed out on the Louis Vuitton job, but it's clear that she’s channelled all that energy into her own brand this year, and each Wales Bonner collection has been better than the last.
Alongside her mainline efforts, Wales Bonner also continued her partnership with adidas, dropping two capsule collections throughout the year. The first was led by a silver-toned Samba that almost single-handedly spurred on this year’s . Much like the ‘Cream/Green’ pair from last year, this pair featured on just about every Instagram moodboard going. The duo then dropped another collection that was kitted out with pony hair uppers, and this was also a sell-out success.
Building on her usual football-inspired looks, Wales Bonner also took the opportunity to celebrate her British-Jamaican heritage by working with the 3-Stripes to design the Jamaica Women’s World Cup kits. Though they may not have won the tournament, they’d have run away with any best-dressed award.
Martine Rose
Just last year, prepped the sneakerverse for the Nike Shox revival with her scroll-stopping Shox Mule, and she continued to drop a couple of colourways of the silhouette in 2023. Not content with only releasing footwear, Rose also worked with the Swoosh on a football-inspired capsule collection. This featured several more formal styles designed to be worn ahead of the Women’s World Cup, and each piece was designed to be genderless. The result was a super progressive take on football fashion and another massive breakthrough for the sport.
As if that wasn’t keeping her busy enough, Rose was also named the first-ever guest creative director at . She presented the first collection, named ‘Coming up Roses’ at her SS24 runway show. The collection is expected to drop next year, but we’re sure that’s not all Rose has up her sleeve. The designer has finished off the year by designing an exclusive Martine Rose x Hillbillies merch drop for Kendrick Lamar and Baby Keem. Phew.
Fiona Lesecq
In case you hadn’t noticed, women’s football had a pretty big year. Not to be outdone by designer kits and off-pitch attire, the team at Nike Football stepped up their footwear efforts too, which saw Fiona Lesecq spearhead the Nike Phantom Luna’s development. According to the Swoosh, this is the most innovative and well-researched women’s boot in Nike’s whole history, and the style even came with a breakthrough new traction pattern, Nike Cyclone 360, for better agility, precision and confidence.
The team behind the boot actually spent over two years researching, trialling and styling it, and worked with female footballers to perfect the fit. The result was packed with brand-new tech, including a new upper design called Nike Asym Fit, which was developed alongside the athletes during the testing phase.
Sandy Liang
racked up quite the cult following in 2023, and the ball really started rolling with the announcement of her colab. Liang was the first-ever woman to join forces with the techy French brand, delivering her take on the XT-6 Expanse and the RX Moc 3.0. Pretty in pink, the XT-6 in particular was super-hyped, and if you still want a pair, they’ll cost you over $600. Given Liang’s super-feminine aesthetic, it’s fair to say that she’s introduced a brand-new audience to sneakers.
Alongside the project with Salomon, Liang also released collections with Vans and SUBU. She also announced her first-ever homeware range under her eponymous label, and dropped a selection of accessories alongside Baggu. As a result of all these things, interest in Liang’s brand has risen 211% over the past year, and the Sandy Liang hashtag now has over 70.1 million views on TikTok.
Nicole McLaughlin
Nicole McLaughlin has quickly become a bit of a household name within the sneaker and streetwear scene these days and is mostly known for her viral upcycling projects. Known for making bras out of croissants and shorts out of Carhartt beanies, McLaughlin’s talent quickly caught the attention of brands like and Arc’teryx, who have both worked with her over the past few years. Her collaboration with Reebok back in 2022 was also a hit with the Gorpcore crowd, and it set the stage for what else was to come.
In 2023, McLaughlin continued to break the internet with her own projects (did creation inspire Crocs x McDonalds?) and has also collaborated with brands like Hoka, Vans and Merrell. With an eye for all things multi-functional, McLaughlin’s colabs never feel forced or for the sake of it, which is why we can’t wait to see who gets to work with her next!
Kitty Shukman
Kitty Shukman may be best known for her work at Yeezy, but her talents go way beyond that. Easily one of the most exciting designers going, Shukman designs with a firm focus on sustainability and takes most of her inspiration from the outside world.
This year, Shukman worked with Balena, a material science company, to design a fully compostable slide. Although she pointed out that the shoe was unlikely to break down in the garden, the shoe would completely break down in a compost facility over the course of 180 days. She also worked with to produce more 3D-printed slides, and her Yeezy 450 finally got a run-out, too. Though a lot of her work is more conceptual than commercial, Shukman is a super-important force in the space and will no doubt continue to push design forward when it comes to sustainability.
Feng Chen Wang
We couldn’t forget about . The Chinese-born, London-based designer is an absolute creative powerhouse, and has rounded out the year with a Crocs colab, UGG colab and her very first Nike clothing collection. All of these partnerships have channelled her design language perfectly, blending together form and function in a way that manages to transcend both gender and age, as well as being sustainable and inclusive.
Having previously worked with , Feng Chen Wang also sent a selection of remade Nike styles down the runway for her AW23 show, so stay locked to Sneaker Freaker to see what’s to come from her Nike partnership in 2024.
Charlotte Lee
While some brands may be reluctant to put their all into new silhouettes, Charlotte Lee has made New Balance a force to be reckoned with. Known for introducing models like the 327, Lee actually helped to pioneer the launch of the New Balance WRPD Runner, which was undeniably one of the boldest shoes to drop in 2023.
Known for her fresh takes and innovative approach to creating sneakers, Lee once that she compares building the future of footwear to constructing a giant lasagna. ‘When sneakers were purely for sport the focus was on creating a lighter/faster product but today it’s an ever-evolving list of requirements. Performance, lifestyle, fashion and sustainability are no longer in isolation to one another and in order to move forwards we must focus our attention to the multi-layered (yet delicious) lasagne,’ she explained.
Ayesha Atlee
‘Sportstyle’ has been the term on everyone’s lips recently, and no one is better versed to respond than Ayesha Atlee. Heading up PUMA’s sportstyle division as their senior head of design, Atlee has helped refresh the Big Cat’s style roster for 2023. Speaking exclusively to Sneaker Freaker, she told us all about her biggest wins and favourite projects for the year.
‘My biggest work win this year has been fostering collaboration and motivation within the design team.’ She says, ‘The team is comprised of highly talented designers who share a deep passion for the PUMA brand. It's truly exciting to witness their innovative ideas come to life. We feel we are on the cusp of something special and you can really feel the energy in the design studio!’
‘As for my favourite project in 2023, it's the successful revival of the PUMA Mostro — a truly iconic shoe that has made a triumphant comeback after being frozen in time. It's truly fascinating to witness how this iconic shoe, which I grew up with in the early 2000s, is resonating with today’s youth. We went the extra mile by reconnecting with the original designer, Peter Schmid, to delve into the inspiration behind the OG design. We amalgamated the best elements from various Mostro models, resulting in a remastered version that gave me goosebumps when I saw the first sample.’
Stayed tuned for lots of exciting stuff to come in 2024.
Daniëlle Cathari
What may have started as a quiet year for Daniëlle Cathari ended with a bang. The designer continued to build up her own label through her own projects and colabs with Woolwich, before she went on to collaborate with Clarks Originals in August. However, her major milestone moment came in December when she was announced as the new creative director for Women. Needless to say, we’re sure Cathari has a lot up her sleeve for 2024.