Anta and Saucony Were Two of the Fastest-Growing Sneaker Brands on StockX in 2024 — Here’s Why

2024 was a year of milestones for StockX and many of the brands that trade on the platform. For instance, the marketplace eclipsed 60 million trades and 20 million buyers during the year, and more than 100 brands set new trade records.

The year was especially kind to sneaker brands Anta and Saucony on StockX.

In its latest trend report, titled “Big Facts: Current Culture Index,” StockX outlined the best-selling and fastest-growing brands on the marketplace in 2024. The biggest revelation in the world of sneakers involved Anta, which was revealed as the year’s fastest-growing sneaker brand on StockX.

The marketplace attributed the brand’s 1,901 percent year-over-year trade growth to the Kai 1, the signature shoe for NBA star Kyrie Irving.

What’s more, another Chinese sneaker company, Li-Ning, came in as the No. 7 fastest-growing brand on StockX, with a sales increase of 113 percent. This was, according to StockX, because of retired basketball legend Dwayne Wade’s signature shoes. 

“These brands are just getting better at picking athletes and saying, ‘This is our path to speaking to U.S. consumers,'” StockX director of sneakers and collectibles Drew Haines told FN. “Even a rotation player on an NBA team can have millions of followers and be very popular on social media. It doesn’t have to be a Giannis [Antetokounmpo] or a LeBron [James] that drives this. It can be someone with a savvy personality that is involved in a professional sport but isn’t a megastar that you would assume they would have to be to have a signature sneaker.”

He continued, “Austin Reeves [of the Los Angeles Lakers] with [Chinese sporting goods brand] Rigorer is a great example. Rigorer isn’t on our list here because the numbers [in terms of trades] in 2023 were so low that it didn’t qualify for the year-over-year metrics, but Rigorer was a great brand for us.”

Haines expects Chinese sportswear brands to continue to have success on StockX in 2025.

“These brands, all they really have to do is double down on what they’re already doing — make the [Anta] Kai 2 or the Kai 3, work in more lifestyle models. Anta just signed a few new athletes as well, so they’re trying to expand their reach with different players on different teams. They have the hardest part done, which is getting their foot in the door with U.S. consumers. Now, sneakerheads are aware of Rigeror, are aware of Anta, are aware of Li-Ning.”

As for Saucony, it was ranked among the top five fastest-growing sneaker brands on StockX for the first time ever. It secured the No. 5 with 120 percent growth. StockX attribute the success on the platform due to Saucony’s high-profile collabs with the likes of Jae Tips, Bodega and Minted New York.

“I don’t think Saucony was on our 2024 predictions list a year ago,” Haines said. “Look at the success of Asics or Nike with the P-6000 or the M2K or some of these other mesh upper models, the retro running-inspired trend that we saw take hold. In some ways, they were beneficiaries of that trend. They also did very well from a collaboration standpoint, and they’re just starting to ramp up their collaboration playbook, as well as the models that they have historically done well with or that have the most heritage within their product lines. Those are in the cultural zeitgeist of what people want, that mesh upper, running-inspired sneaker.”

As for 2025, Haines believes the brand has “a very good shot” to be a “noise maker.”

“They’re one of the brands I’m looking out for this year, just to see if they can take that next step, to get into the same range that New Balance and Asics have gotten to in the sneaker world, to cement themselves in that grouping,” he said.

The remaining sneaker brands in the fastest-growing for 2024 list are Maison Margiela at No. 2 (425 percent), Asics at No. 3 (350 percent) and Dolce & Gabbana at No. 4 (185 percent).

StockX also provided FN with all of the fastest-growing sneaker brands in the top 25. Aside from athletic and outdoor market staples (such as On, Vans, Salomon, Hoka and Puma), the list included several designer standouts, such as Amiri, Prada, Gucci, Rick Owens, Balenciaga and more.

Aside from consumers being interested in something different, Haines said geography played a major role in this.

“A lot of these brands, the supply is heavily based in Europe because that’s where all those brands are based, and we have some incredible sellers out there that are sourcing well-priced inventory,” Haines said. “Because of the global nature of the marketplace, we’re able to connect those U.S. buyers to those EU sellers. And because retail there is lower, particularly when you consider conversion rates, sellers are able to make a profit while getting it to American consumers for less than what they would have to pay going into that brand’s retail store.”

As for the best-selling sneaker brands on StockX in 2024, the top five held the same position that they did in 2023: Nike was No. 1 and was followed by, Jordan Brand, Adidas, New Balance and Asics.

Specifically for Adidas, there was a shift in terms of the products that sold. StockX stated 44 percent of its sneaker trades in 2024 consisted of Yeezy product compared to 52 percent a year prior. 

Though the 8 percent difference seems slight, StockX pointed out that Adidas had a lot of ground to make up to maintain its position without Yeezy because its base was already massive, and that increase represented thousands of sales. Haines stated much of that difference was made up by four models: Samba, Gazelle, Campus and Handball Spezial.

As for its Shoes category, Ugg (aided by the release of the Lowmel boot) and Crocs (led by the Naruto collaboration and the look inspired by Batman’s Batmobile) secured the No. 1 and 2 spots, respectively, on its best-selling brands list. Timberland came in at No. 3 on the best-selling list (one spot up from 2023), and was followed by Birkenstock and Gucci.

The top five fastest-growing shoe brands for 2024 on StockX were Gucci (410 percent growth), Timberland (237 percent), Birkenstock (54 percent), Clarks Originals (13 percent) and Balenciaga (11 percent).

About the Author

Peter Verry is the Senior News and Features Editor for Athletic and Outdoor at Footwear News. He oversees coverage of the two fast-paced and ultracompetitive markets, which includes conducting in-depth interviews with industry leaders and writing stories on sneakers and outdoor shoes. He is a lifelong sneaker addict (and shares his newest purchases via @peterverry on Instagram) and spends most of his free time on a trail. He holds an M.A. in journalism from Hofstra University and can be reached at peter.verry@footwearnews.com.