Kickers looks backwards and forwards as it enjoys 2026 renaissance

Kickers has a genuine footprint in British nostalgia, and its new ad nails all the right references.

It’s hard to explain British youth culture to those unfamiliar with it. 

Chunky footwear brand Kickers harks back to an Inbetweeners-tinged era of market stalls, Britpop, tabloids and acid house. And the nods and aesthetics of its latest campaign show it certainly knows its place in this diverse subculture.

Created with Wavey Garms and directed by founder Andres Branco, the campaign follows DJ and producer Eliza Rose through a purpose-built British high street populated by fifty years of references.

The campaign feels closer to a social history project than conventional advertising. 

Rather than a linear story, the film feels like a series of encounters.

We see emerging grime artist JayaHadADream debate with a Haçienda-era Manchester raver about which musical movement was more important; actor David Schaal (best known as Jay's dad in The Inbetweeners) appears as a market trader, firing off cockney one-liners that feel lifted from a very specific era of British popular culture.

The Brit Boys, a group of soon-to-be BRIT School graduates, perform a social-first dance routine, connecting Kickers' heritage with Gen Z culture. Groups of schoolchildren make brief appearances, referencing Kickers' long-standing status as part of Britain's unofficial school uniform.

In one scene, a group of "indie sleaze" lads wearing plimsolls are rejected from a nightclub while Kickers wearers are waved through the door. I particularly enjoyed this nod to the old clubland "no trainers" rules that frankly plagued my teenage years.

Wavey Garms, then, understands that Kickers has credibility because it has been organically adopted by different tribes. 

The references to British subculture feel authentic, much like Burberry's best music-led work or adidas Originals' dalliances with UK street culture.

Kickers reminds us of simpler times, past and present.