Women's Trainers

Our women's trainers come from a fairly small list of brands we keep going back to: Veja and Common Projects for plain leather, Karhu, New Balance and Diadora for the retro running shapes, Novesta and Good News for canvas, and Puma and Mizuno for the odd thing that doesn't fit either. Most of what we stock is made in Europe. There's more in all footwear and sale.

Retro and Running-Style Trainers

This is the biggest part of the range and the one that takes the most explaining. Karhu is the Finnish one, all Fusion 2.0 and Mestari, chunky-soled and the closest thing here to a proper nineties runner. New Balance covers the same ground in more shapes, from the slim 327 and 574 up to the 9060 and 2002R. Diadora is the Italian version and usually the best value of the three, and the Winner and N902 are the ones we'd point at first. Mizuno sits a little apart, more sportswear than heritage. All of them go with wide trousers or a midi skirt, which is most of what people wear them with.

Leather and Canvas Trainers

If you want something plainer, the leather side is Veja, Common Projects and Saye. Common Projects is the quietest and the most expensive, with the gold serial number on the heel and nothing else. Veja does more colour and more shapes and is the one people buy twice. Saye is the Barcelona brand and the vegan option. On canvas there's Novesta, made in the same Slovakian factory since 1939, and Good News, which is the loudest thing here. A white leather trainer gets scuffed, and these are no different, so if you want one pair to last, black or off-white hides more than white does.

Which Pair to Start With

If you've not bought from any of these brands before, we'd say this: take the Veja if you want a plain trainer that goes with everything, the Karhu Fusion if you want something with a bit of bulk under a dress, the Novesta Star Master if you want canvas, and the Common Projects if you want the one that looks classy but costs the most. Sizing varies more across these brands than you'd expect. Novesta comes up large, Common Projects runs true, and Veja sits somewhere in between, so check the size guide on the product page rather than carrying your usual size across.

There's more in Veja, Karhu, Novesta, Diadora and Common Projects.

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