These Light-Up Sneakers Are Lit

Back in the ‘90s, my parents bought me a pair of LA Gear light-up shoes. It was a win-win: My little magpie-like child brain was enamored with the flashing LEDs in my heel, and my parents found a relatively low-cost way to get me to tire myself out, as I essentially ran suicide drills over and over, trying to trigger the bulbs.

I quickly burned through this pair of shoes and, as the fad had already passed, figured I’d never really think of them again. And I didn’t for the longest time. But then I noticed last year that my gimmicky childhood shoes were being worn by adults, particularly at raves and festivals, and the Happy Meal–levels of circuitry had been replaced by the futuristic technology that powers the UFO in Close Encounters of the Third Kind

I scoured the web for some of the best and brightest the light-up sneaker game had to offer. Hopefully my research can shed some light on the subject for those of you who’ve been mulling over buying a pair.

Maison Tothem

These sneakers are a solid re-introduction to the concept of flashing footwear for those of you who were out of the loop like me. The basic matte colors in the low-tops look a little too much like you’re a nurse at St. Calvin Harris’ Rave Hospital, but the shiny ones definitely come off like cute creepers. The hi-tops ain’t too shabby, either.

Beam

Another simple but to-the-point company, Beam offers one style of men’s and women’s light-up kicks in a couple of colors. I have no clue why women get the silver option and men don’t. Guys like shiny stuff too, Beam; quit being so sexist. Also, the black ones look a little too much like the non-skid sneakers they make you wear in a restaurant to comply with OSHA laws, so I guess my only option would be to get a pair of the white ones.

Hoverkicks

Finally, a little variety introduced to the mix. No longer just relegating the choices to basic low- and hi-tops, the fine folks at Hoverkicks offer winged sneakers in their catalog in a clear *cough* “homage” to the popular Adidas line from a few years back. These fools clearly need a refresher course in mythology, since they call this their “Pegasus” line. Everyone knows it’s Hermes (or Mercury, if you wanna go Roman) who has wings on his feet. Maybe if I wore shoes on my back, “Pegasus” would make sense.

Electric Styles

The low-top lines are all starting to blend together for me. I’m sure these are just as fine as any of the aforementioned brands. And this isn’t an indictment of Electric Style’s shoes; I just wish there was a tad bit more originality in the base models across the board from these companies. I do, however, like the two-tone hi-top models for sale here. They’re clearly drawing a little bit of inspiration from the Nike SB Dunks, and that’s not a bad thing. That line has been consistently sick for well over a decade.

BeWild

The low-rent nature of the site and generic-ness of the kicks leads me to believe these are shoddy imports from Myanmar retrofitted with light soles that’ll fall apart on me after just a few minutes of shuffling. I also don’t feel bad slamming this brand with zero evidence to back up my conjecture, since their homepage banner is touting the site as “confederate flag headquarters.” I get that everyone’s gotta make a buck, but that’s a pretty clear line drawn in the sand. I can get my entry-level LED shoes pretty much anywhere else if that’s the kinda shop you’re trying to be, BeWild.

InuInu

Are you even trying anymore with these shoes, guys? This whole site is kawaii af, and I love it, I really do. But you gotta offer more than just one pair of shoes in one color before I consider you anything more than an also-ran. And like many of the companies here, InuInu is selling preorders of these, which has me wondering if there isn’t a factory somewhere out in Chengdu just pumping out a million of these bad boys and selling them to all these companies. I mean, the similarities are striking, no?

Yaritza

Hold on just a minute now. Are these…? Yes, they are. Someone done went and made light-up fake Yeezys! I’m conflicted. On the one hand, Yeezys are great. On the other, these are not real Yeezys. But the sheer audacity of taking one of the most emulated shoe designs out right now and slapping LEDs in them? I have to go ahead and call these solid. If I saw someone walking around in these, I can almost guarantee I’d be compelled to go inquire about them and maybe even try to snap a pic.

Sync Footwear

Though still just a prototype, this shoe, which will eventually retail for $220, seems like the apex of modern LED shoe tech, until they start projecting little HoloPacs from the heels. Not only do these jawns light up in a bunch of preset color combos, speeds and patterns, but they also blast music. I’m pretty sure these are what Tony Stark would’ve invented during his kandi kid days.

This DIY Pair

Nothing beats the feeling of accomplishment when someone compliments you on a painting, song, or article of clothing and you get to faux-casually go, “Oh, thanks. Yeah, I made that.”

This DIY video by YouTuber Annika Victoria shows how to take a raggedy-ass pair of thrift store sneakers and turn them into a functional pair of light-ups, all in the course of an afternoon project.

The final product certainly has a little more… “character” than the store-bought ones, but you can’t deny there’s a certain punky charm to them the others are sorely lacking.