One of the best parts of the Christmas season is settling down to watch some of your favourite festive films. Some of the best of the bunch have iconic style moments in them (looking at you, Wet Bandits in Home Alone), but some of the more unexpectedly great sneakers can be found in Christmas Movies — We’ve pulled together a list for you to look at, some of these might surprise you.
Batman Returns — Air Jordan 6
While not technically a movie about Christmas, the second instalment of Tim Burton’s take on the dark knight does heavily feature the festive season and has found its way onto many Christmas film lists, ala Die Hard. Despite being decked out with the best bat-gadgets around, Bruce Wayne clearly couldn’t top the Jumpman himself when it came to footwear, as Michael Keaton’s batsuit features a heavily modified pair of Air Jordan 6’s.
Fully blacked out (of course), and with an extended form factor that turned the basketball sneakers into boots fit for crime-fighting kicks on the streets of Gotham City, the sneakers are easy to miss. Photos of the costume after the movie’s release surfaced and the hallmark design details of the AJ6 are unmistakably there, from the padded ankle support to the air bubble in the heel, it’s clear that the Caped Crusader is also a fan of the iconic Nike line.
Bridget Jones’ Y2K Sneakers
Slight cheat here, as it’s not immediately apparent which pair of sneakers Renee Zelweger is wearing in the climactic scene of 2001’s most prominent rom-com, but they are certainly of the era.
In the speedy exit into a snowy street in chase of the dashing Mark Darcy, Bridget Jones throws on a pair of chunky, sportswear-inspired sneakers that wouldn’t look out of place in an outfit in 2023. As we’re deep in the throws of a Y2K resurgence (thanks mostly to Gen Z), there’s plenty of similar options around at the moment if you’re expecting a mad dash into the snow. Look to brands like New Balance with their returning styles like the 2002R and 1906R or ASICS’ GEL-Kayano 14 and GEL-1130 if you’re after a pair of Jones style sneakers.
Home Alone — adidas Forum Low
Few Christmas movies are held to the level that Home Alone is, Kevin McCallister’s antics are a stone-cold classic that gets people rewatching year after year, and throughout the movie the trap-setting nine year old is seen wearing a pair of adidas Forum Lows. At the time of the movies release the Forum Low was still fairly new, and had become a staple of late ‘80s style. 33 years on the style is as classic as Home Alone itself, and adidas even recognised the link between sneaker and silver screen moment with a 2021 release referencing details seen in the film.
Jingle All The Way — Chunky Sneakers
Another slight cheat here — It’s hard to tell exactly which Reebok’s a pre-Anakin Skywalker Jake Lloyd is wearing in the Christmas classic that sees Arnie in a decidedly less threatening role, but it’s another chance to talk about some options for these late ‘90s/early 2000’s sneakers that we’re seeing return to the forefront of sneaker style, and specifically shout out the Nike P-6000 and New Balance 530, both reflect the era they were designed in perfectly and are exactly the kind of sneakers that you would see on the feet of determined father in search of a Turbo Man figure in the late ‘90s.