Disclaimer: Beckett Simonon was nice enough to send The Peak Lapel these sneakers for free for the purposes of this honest review.
It’s no secret that white leather sneakers are quite a stylish shoe. If you don’t own a pair, you should. They are an excellent final addition to any outfit. They look just as great with chinos and a polo as they do with jeans as they do with, yes, even a suit. They’re minimalist, sleek, and clean, and are, perhaps, the ultimate footwear. We’ve reviewed a couple other here on the site if you take a look around.
For me, personally, the issue was always sleekness. Meaning, the shape of the toe, the slimness of the profile, and just the overall design being minimal and super clean. The king of this, of course, is Common Projects. But CP is super expensive, and also doesn’t come in half sizes. This makes them not an option for many guys, myself included. So what’s a guy to do? Well, enter the Reid sneaker from Beckett Simonon. These things are only $149, and are honestly some of the cleanest, sleekest white sneakers we have ever worn.
There are a lot of companies doing white leather sneakers these days, and it’s hard to differentiate one from the other. Beckett Simonon, though, is truly one of the sleekest out there. Plus, because of their “pre-order” model, they’re delivering quality well above what you are paying. So, yes, they are one of the cheaper white leather sneaker companies out there these days, but the quality is well above that and competes with the best of them (think: Oliver Cabell, KOIO, Greats, and so on).
How do they do this? Well, besides for all the typical DTC trope, they also take a really long time to ship. Like, 8-10 weeks. And the reason for this is simple. All of their orders are actually pre-orders. Once the order window closes, that shoe model is no longer available (sometimes never to return), and then it goes into production. This allows Beckett Simonon to know exactly how many shoes they need to manufacture, which cuts out warehousing, inventory, and stocking costs. And, naturally, they pass these savings on to you. Which should, so the story goes, give you super high quality shoes at a much lower price point.
The shoes take a really long time to ship. That is by design, as discussed above. Still, if waiting 8-10 weeks for your shoes to arrive is a dealbreaker for you, then Beckett Simonon is not for you. If you don’t mind, though, or at least can deal with it, then you’re in for an excellent deal, as you will see below. The biggest issue? Sizing… since you won’t know for quite a few months if the shoes even fit you. But, once you nail down your size with them, it’ll be well worth it. (They also came with a free extra pair of shoelaces! Nice touch.)
The leather on the shoes is quite nice. I had a bit of a tough break in period with them, but that was largely due to me full on going sickles and wearing them straight away for way too much walking. After a couple of wears, though, they really molded to my feet are now quite comfortable. They’re not the most comfortable pair of sneakers I have ever worn, but they are plenty fine.
The shoes show a tiny bit of creasing with wear, but it’s nothing bad. And, as the leather continues to break in, it will even out a bit and overall look more well-worn, as opposed to a new shoe with a crease in it.
For the price, we think these are the go-to white leather sneakers. They are super sleek and clean, have no branding whatsoever, and are a great value for the price. Go grab a pair.