PFW Day 4: Soccer Veja's

Plus: menswear obsessions, Alexa Chung’s campy Chloé aesthetic, work tensions at Stella McCartney, and suiting.

Friday March 7, 2025.

Field Notes

Hello everyone, last night I went to the Palais Brongniart for the opening night of Tranoï, and then biked over to Veja’s Panenka shoe launch. There was a soccer net in the middle of the venue that guests could try to score a goal through, a live DJ set, and an orange wine fountain. But I was mainly there to see the shoes, which retail for $160.

Veja is one of those democratic one-style-fits-all sneaker brands. They initially caught my attention as the pre-pandemic bobo sneaker Parisians wore around Odéon (for my natty TriBeCa New Yorkers here, it is indeed a really lovely neighbourhood in Paris). Then Veja morphed into the street-style. And most recently, it’s gone viral as Kate Middleton’s shoe du jour to compliment an off-duty blazer and denim look.

The next chapter Veja is trying to carve out is soccer. The Panenka comes from Brazil’s love for football, the brand mothership. It’s a slim shoe that positions itself as the more sustainable cousin of the Adidas Samba.

The fact that they come in 3 color ways is a major selling point. As comparison, the Sambas come in over 20 color ways. I prefer a narrowly edited shoe to a sprawling range of options, personally. The Paneka’s have a similar crocodile tooth leather trimming to these Church’s I love, and have practically lived in for the past 5 years. They’re a buy in my opinion.

Retail Gazette

• “There’s not much room for experimentation in menswear, which means we’re more likely to focus on smaller details” (WSJ)

Haider Ackermann was inspired by the movie American Psycho for his Tom Ford debut collection.

Menswear, as an obsession, is thriving. The entry-fee for this club of connoisseurs are Barbour jackets, niche perfume, and loafers. It’s a shift from the traditionally masculine way of looking at the world through the lens of cars and whiskey.

Just ask the guys from

Throwing Fits

,

Sprezza

, or

Presentable

who manage the art of the fit. I recommend them for a healthy dose of menswear to compliment your media diet.

• I’m just using suiting here to highlight how good Jacob Gallagher’s writing is for the New York Times (NYT)

The Times plucked him from the WSJ, and now everybody wants to get on his watch.