The Best White Sneakers for Men Will Kick-Start Your Spring

The best white sneakers for men are more than a mere wardrobe staple—they’re the base of the menswear food pyramid, the pair of shoes you’ll likely reach for more than any other in your closet. Which explains why there are a mind-boggling amount of white sneakers available, from all-time classics to wild-style flexes, upscale designer riffs to affordable but no less inspired models.

The Best White Sneakers, According to GQ

And while white sneakers, generally, are not the sneakers you lust after, drool over, or dream about (then come up short on the SNKRS app when they drop), there is an undeniable hit of endorphins when you crack open a fresh pair. Scuff-free. Gleaming. Because the best white sneakers are always the newest pair you've got. Sure, there's a little sadness when you thank your old, roughed-up pair of white sneakers for their long and distinguished service and set them free. They delivered hundreds of wears; held down hundreds of fits. It's the circle of life.

But as they say, the best is yet to come. And in the case of white sneakers, it's a mash up of tried and true classics and one-off collabs that continue to hit. Sneakers whose pristine exteriors wipe the proverbial slate clean on your fits, your life. To keep the circle going, we surveyed hundreds of potential kicks, tested out the cream of the crop, and settled on these seven picks—along with 12 honorable mentions—as the best white sneakers for men. (With a few more here if you need only the best white sneakers under $100.) Go forth and be fresh.

We've talked about the highs and anxiety-inducing lows of the Samba's reign, but the fact remains that they're one of the most versatile shoes on the market. With smooth leather and suede uppers that toe the line between sporty and casual, the post-training sneaker turned brunch shoe for the netizen's elite is how you keep a low-profile without going totally obscure. Sure, it may feel like everyone has them (and many do), but that's what happens when a shoe makes its way from the sidelines into ubiquity. Love ‘em or hate ’em (but secretly love ‘em), the Sambas are top of mind and thus top of our list.

You don't have to be from California or even skate to pledge allegiance to the LX slip-on sneakers. All you need is a keen eye for clean lines and a desire for laidback styling that requires bare-minimum effort. Crafted from sturdy canvas that's been kitted out with a rubberized sole that can withstand the gnarliest of coastal showers, the LX is no-frills footwear at its finest, before minimalist sneakers were even a thing. There's plenty of colorways to choose from when it comes to getting your Vans fix, but we've found that OG white never gets old. Rock them with a big baggy pair of chinos and a plain white T-shirt, and you’ve got your warm weather fits locked in.

GQ Commerce Writer Gerald Ortiz says he prefers the Vans Vault line over the Vans mainline because “the materials are noticeably better, the cushioning is more substantial, and the silhouettes offer throwback character which vintage heads like me appreciate.” When you’re tired of lace-ups but loafers feel too dressy, these slip-ons are a nice change of pace.

If you’ve been keeping up with men’s fashion for the last decade or so, even peripherally, you've probably come across a pair of Maison Margiela's Replica sneakers, an aptly-named homage to the kicks first issued to the German military in the late ‘80s. The original German Army Trainer (or GAT, in online menswear parlance) bears a striking similarity to the other retro-leaning kicks on this list, but it may very well have been doomed to obscurity if not for a certain press-shy Belgian designer, who introduced the silhouette to the fashion crowd at the onset of the aughts.

Plenty of other brands have put their own spin on it (and it's easy enough to come by an authentic vintage pair), but Margiela's is the rare upscale variant worth every penny. The leather is buffed but not shiny, the suede is appropriately supple but not precious, and the whole shebang is elevated enough to wear to the office on a Friday—and low-key enough to wear to drinks when you clock out. In 2024, Margiela, the man, is revered for his cerebral approach to subverting the classics, but the success—hell, ubiquity—of the Replica is testament to his eye for commercial viability, too. The guy knew how to make a high-quality product and how to market it. How's that for a legacy you'd like to claim as your own?

All real sneakerheads know that black Air Force 1s are a bad omen—if you see someone in them, it means you should turn and run. White Air Force 1s, on the other hand, are a sign of nothing beyond the wearer’s very fine taste. Since 1982, when they were introduced as Nike’s first basketball shoe to feature its revolutionary Air tech, the AF1 has held it down as the Swoosh’s single most reliable model. It’s hardly the flashiest Nike ever released, or the best performing on the court, or the most storied—but it’s tasteful, understated, and wholly timeless, three adjectives that don’t get thrown around in sneaker circles often enough. Long before Balenciaga made clownishly oversized sneakers a thing, Air Force 1s were chunkier and more bulbous than any of the sneakers that came before them. When doused in all-white, those proportions—along with the perforations on the toe and the panelling along the sides—feel all the more statuesque. And while they look incredible fresh out the box, they're among a rare class of white leather kicks that genuinely still look killer smoked to high hell. Whether you're on your first pair or your 40th, it's never really a bad time to pick up another.

Looks-wise, the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star has hardly changed at all since it first hit the hardwood in the early 1920s. They’re the classic white sneaker you probably think of first. In terms of construction, though, the no-frills GOAT hit its peak in the '70s: the canvas upper was weightier, the rubber midsole rode up a little higher, the toe cap was a touch smaller, and the patch on the back of the heel was a cool retro black rather than the standard white. A few years back, Converse decided to make them that way again. For a cool $90, the Chuck 70 gets you all those key design upgrades, plus the benefit of modern cushioning installed into the thicker vintage outsoles. They're the same Chucks you've always loved, only better. The only choice you have to make is whether you want the high-top or the low-top version.

“Chucks are as classic as it gets," GQ's Gerald Ortiz say, and the Chuck 70 is significantly better than its regular counterpart. "The canvas is burlier, the silhouette is chunky but not in an overly trendy kind of way, and the insole is supremely cushion-y.” In other words, they're well worth the minor price jump, so we'd recommend springing for the upgraded version.

When the legendary French outdoors outfitter Salomon wanted to get more people interested in their hyper-functional sneakers, they scoured their archives for silhouettes that could serve as canvasses for wild colorways: electric limes, fire truck reds, fresh ocean blues. As it happens, though, Salomon's shoes look plenty sharp with no color at all. The nylon mesh, sleek panels, and quick-lace system work even better together iced out in glacial whites, and the grippy lug soles seem somehow fiercer. Like all Salomon kicks, the XT-6 has all the tools to conquer craggy mountainsides, but it'll perform just as well on the city streets with your biggest brunch fits. We named them the Sneaker of the Year back in 2019 and they're still a hit to this day.

These may look like a regular pair of sneakers, but you can't judge a book by its cover (as cool as it looks). These collaborative kicks are the work of Moonstar in cahoots with Buck Mason. Moonstar has been in the business of footwear for generations upon generations—since 1873 to be exact. They got their footing by making traditional Tabi shoes and evolved to master the vulcanized rubber process. Each shoe uses a unique method which requires the clay-like rubber to be applied by hand before the shoes are literally baked in a kiln. The result is a higher-quality sneaker with more character and soul (heh) than the competition.

Ortiz (yes, again—the guy went through a 5-year-long white sneaker phase) loves his Moonstars because of how comfortable they are—and how beautifully they break in, like a rare pair of vintage sneakers. Are they worth twice the price of other alternatives? If you dig slow-made, well-crafted garments with a great story, absolutely.

Plus 12 More White Sneakers We Love