How sneakers became a girl's best friend

No fewer than 250,000 pairs of women's Jordan sneakers were sold worldwide on StockX in 2020, enough to have any self-respecting stiletto quaking in its boots.

And while that figure covers the Jordan Brand alone, global sales of women's sneakers more than doubled on the resale platform between 2019 and 2020, reflecting growing enthusiasm among women for this kind of footwear, which is more popular than ever.

People may have said -- or at least thought -- that the sneaker trend wouldn't last when sales took off in recent years.

Today, however, it's hard to imagine where and when the trend -- which has become a real social phenomenon -- will end. And it seems that successive lockdowns and the mass switch to home working have further heightened the appetite for sneakers, among both men and women.

StockX revealed some dizzying figures as the specialist sneaker resale platform celebrates its fifth anniversary.

The platform notably observes that women's sneaker sales have grown at an impressive rate, rising 1,500x between 2016 and 2020. And while men's sneaker sales still exceed women's on the platform, women's sneakers have grown at a faster rate.

Strikingly, the site currently sells the same number of women's exclusive sneakers in four hours as it did in all of 2016!

Unsurprisingly, Jordan is the brand of choice for women, as for men.

In 2020, top sellers in the women's department were the Jordan 1 Retro High Satin Snake Chicago, the Jordan 1 Mid SE Multi-Color, the Jordan 1 Retro High Lucky Green and the Jordan 1 Mid Alternate Swooshes Red Yellow.

And the most forged sneakers are ...

Popular sneakers are also susceptible to forgery. Jordan sneakers were among the platform's most attempted fakes of 2020, particularly styles from collabs with trendy brands or celebrities.

Last year, the resale platform's three most attempted fakes were the Air Jordan 4 Retro Off White Sail W, the Air Jordan 1 Retro High Off White Chicago, and the Air Jordan 1 Retro High Travis Scott.

In 2016, two pairs of Air Jordan shoes -- the Air Jordan 1 Retro Bred 2016 and the Air Jordan 11 Retro Space Jam 2016 -- featured in the site's top three most attempted fakes.

These were joined by the Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 Low V2 Beluga, which was a particularly sought-after style. Still, that all seems to be water under the bridge, because the average resale price of the Yeezy 350 has dropped from $611 in 2016 to $330 in 2020, which is good news ... for some.