Shoe Charm Summer Is Coming — Here’s How to Refresh Your Everyday Sneakers With Personal Flair.
Stacia Datskovska
Senior Commerce Writer for WWD
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In case you haven’t heard yet, personalization is in when it comes to making a fashion statement this season. While handbags still serve as fertile ground for adding a little something extra to your purse — informally known as “Jane Birkin-ifying” your bag by loading it up with delightful tassels and trinkets — shoe charms are stepping into the spotlight to elevate the looks of your everyday sneakers vis-à-vis baubles, lace clips, chains, pom poms, and other decorations that won’t add any extra weight to your walk.
Since August, weekly TikTok views for bag charms have spiked by 280 percent, per Trendalytics, and though a similar statistic hasn’t yet been sourced for shoe charms, runways and street style alike make it clear that people have already given them an open-armed embrace. During its spring 2025 runway presentation, Miu Miu pampered the Plume, Tyre, and Gymnasium sneakers with the ultimate charm treatment: marked by clip-on and thread-through additions that ranged from fabric pinwheels to mini tassel keychains. Coach, too, didn’t shy away from a little footwear playfulness during New York Fashion Week last year, for which the brand’s Soho sneaker was introduced to childlike whimsy via prominent and colorful charms that included taxi cabs, deer, unicorns, and vintage cars: taking up prime real estate on the shoe’s upper and, understandably, attracting all the attention.
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Other brands are paying attention and following suit, what with the recent releases of the exclusive Nike Cortez sneakers in collaboration with Printemps Paris’ first store in NYC — dolled up, as they are, with elegant, gilded charms on the laces — and the Unheardof x Adidas Adistar Cushion 3 “Pork Chop Piggy Runners,” which come with keychains taking the forms of hearts and an illustrated pig. But it doesn’t take a shoe that’s been preemptively “charmed up,” so to speak, in order to treat your kicks to some flair this season. In fact, TikTokers are demonstrating the powers of a little do-it-yourself moment in this department — by way of videos racking up thousands of views, in which they pair green-striped Adidas Gazelles with on-trend cherry charms; whip up their own versions of the ultra-popular ballerina sneaker by swapping regular laces for ribbon ones, but not before threading pearl-bedecked charms through them; or else help an all-white Chuck Taylor All Star Lugged Heel Platform give off major Y2K vibes with glass beads. This latter example makes it clear that shoe charms don’t only look good on slim silhouettes; the whole point of the endeavor, after all, is to think outside the (shoe)box.
The craze surrounding shoe personalization entered the popular imagination during the golden age of Crocs Jibbitz, which continues to gain momentum thanks to buzzy collaborations with luxury labels like Simone Rocha. High-end brands are actively contributing to this personalization fixation, and not just through new shoe releases already embedded with charms; it’s quite en vogue right now, for example, to have on-site activations that allow customers to walk away with a shoe that’s uniquely theirs. Golden Goose’s just-opened experiential retail space in NYC epitomizes the concept in its Co-Creation Bar: a section of the store where eager individuals can customize their Golden Goose acquisitions with patches, charms, pins, brooches, crystals, studs, embroidery, paint, and the like.
This emerging shoe charm trend aligns with the demand for footwear that turns heads while you get your steps in, evident in the recent “snoafer” rollouts and a wide variety of Mary Jane sneakers on the market. A statement shoe look doesn’t have to be anything grand if you don’t want it to be: It could simply mean popping some pearls onto your Sambas and making them shine, even if three other people in your office wear the same exact ones.
A bonus to all this? For those who love adding a personal touch to their designer handbag, an investment in cool shoe charms can double its value with the ability to be swapped between bags and shoes depending on the OOTD you’re going with.
When selecting your charms of choice, we recommend mixing it up texture- and color-wise. As Miu Miu’s spring 2025 Plume sneakers prove, sometimes all it takes is layering on varied laces or combining tassels that move around with more stationary lace clips.
Next, let yourself be guided by an overarching theme if you want the final outcome to look as put-together as possible. This isn’t meant to be a constraint in the least; something as specific as the “French girl” look, for instance, can be achieved with a wide, flexible range of charm styles and textures. Per beauty influencer Erin Dugan Jurchak’s below video, this might entail pearl bows, safety pins with little charms of their own, and checkered shoelaces. No matter if you go in a nautical direction or decide to nod to your favorite sports team or TV show (“The White Lotus”–inspired shoes anyone?), make sure every new shoe charm introduction is a contributing member to the footwear’s larger whole.
Think quality over quantity, too, and don’t discount the fact that you’ll have to walk in your final shoe charm–adorned creation, so these accessories shouldn’t add an extra pound of weight to each foot. In a similar vein, one would be wise to bypass shoe charms that’ll have a tendency to get caught underfoot and prompt many a faux pas.
Ready to tap into fashion’s latest “It” thing and become the walk of the town? Below are all the charms we’re adding to cart today, as well as the sneaker styles that make them especially worth it.
Top Designer Shoe Charms
Popular Shoes to Personalize With Shoe Charms
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Meet the Author
Stacia Datskovska is a Senior Commerce Writer at WWD and FN. Previously, she worked at ELLE DECOR as an assistant digital editor, covering all things luxury, culture, and lifestyle through a design lens. Her bylines over the past five years have appeared in USA Today, Baltimore Sun, Teen Vogue, Boston Globe, Food & Wine, and more. Prior to joining ELLE DECOR, Datskovska learned the ins and outs of e-commerce at Mashable, where she tested products, covered tentpole sales events, and curated gift guide roundups. She graduated from NYU with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and international relations. Datskovska regularly reports on footwear trends and runway style.
