Boat shoes are finally seeing the light of day. The resurgence of prep and Americana is being spurred on by Zendaya wearing tennis cores at Challengers, TikTok embracing the old-money aesthetic, and Bella Hadid riding horses. But I wasn't sure until I saw Sperry's top-siders bouncing around on the Spring 2025 runways and entering the wardrobes of fashionable women like Nordstrom's Associate Fashion Director Linda Cui Chang.

“I customized them with Don't Let Disco beads. They offer a more relaxed look than the classic loafer."

”The loafers are a great way to add a touch of sophistication to your wardrobe.

Elsewhere at New York Fashion Week (NYFW), street style musees are pairing boat shoes with slip skirts, baggy pants, hot pants, and knee socks. Hillary Taymour of Collina Strada sent her black leather Sperry boat shoes, covered in mud, down the outdoor catwalk. Ella Emhoff was photographed in the front row wearing the same style not covered in mud. [It's the Authentic Original Boat Shoe, the Wells Boat Shoe with lug sole, and the Bayside Boat Shoe with extra chunky. The show, which opened with a jacket worn by Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention, was a landscape of American sportswear influences. By pairing boat shoes with prairie-inspired dresses and chic blazers, designers Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia showed how a shoe style designed for sailing the seas could be recontextualized for living on land.

Allie Perellano Rendon, co-founder and CEO of fashion consulting firm Collection Atelier, has been wearing boat shoes for years, from black glitter topsiders to brown ballet flat-inspired ones. She is a Connecticut native who tells me that boat shoes established their uniform status decades ago. My closet is no longer lined with boat shoes,” she says, ”but I still have two pairs left that I wear. For me, boat shoes have the same energy as L.L. Bean boots. It's classic, nautical, Americana, East Coast energy. [With Fashion Month falling right in between the summer Olympics and the upcoming election, it feels only right that nostalgic American style should once again permeate our collective consciousness. But there may be another reason why there is such a concerted push for boat shoes this season, says Perellano Rendon.

“Collaboration is key to being cool in the fashion world right now. Since Sperry's license was acquired by the Aldo Group last year, Sperry has focused on exactly this,” she said, citing summer collaborations with Todd Snyder and the Palms Tennis Society as examples.

“The energy and audience for boat shoes has definitely shifted with these collaborations.”

We've seen what can happen when a designer decides to elevate an overlooked shoe; Ugg's boot comeback tour and the Neverending Crocs craze are just a little wind in its sails and how far the humble boat shoe trend can go Here's a glimpse of how far it can go. Expect Sperry to team up with Dries Van Noten next. But if you're looking for something a little freakier than the traditional boat shoe, nothing beats Labucq's It Girl version with metal beading.