# @chicago_history on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DduavjbEsEr
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70859721-chicago-history-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/c5a431ece3.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-25T21:23:52.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Michael Dembov (@chicago_history) — https://gondola.cc/chicago_history

## Caption

For nearly 40 years, Steven Smith has been quietly designing shoes that have helped shape what we wear on our feet today from running and basketball shoes to some of the wildest designs of the modern shoe era.

Different brands. Different decades. Completely different silhouettes. Always iconic. 

Smith helped build the design that made New Balance what it is today, with classics including the 574, 997, 1500 and other models that still continue to be one of the most worn sneakers on the planet. He helped establish the brand’s now famous “dad shoe” aesthetic. 

Decades later, he helped push footwear in the opposite direction at Yeezy. Smith and Kanye are the only shoe to not only compete against the Jordan brand but outperform it for several years. The Wave Runner, 450 and Foam Runner weren’t just meant to look futuristic, Smith has described the Foam Runner’s laceless construction as a solution to an actual performance problem. Function first, and somehow the result looked like it came from 20 years in the future. 

Today he’s doing it again at Crocs. Smith leads Crocs’ Creative Innovation team, where the Ripple became the team’s first new silhouette. Its multi density construction pushes comfort and function while giving Crocs a completely new design language and in 2026 he’s already expanding that thinking into new footwear like the heydude Stride S and other designs coming soon! 

That’s what makes his career so crazy: New Balance → Reebok → FILA → Nike → Yeezy → Crocs.

Some of these shoes became classics. Some were considered weird when they arrived. Some completely changed what we thought a shoe could look like.

How many of these have you owned? 

#ChicagoHistory 👟

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## Credits

No public credits are recorded here. This does not identify who made the post.

## Tags

chicagohistory

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