Did Ben Affleck Quit Wearing Sneakers?

I never thought I’d be asking this, but it’s starting to feel like a very real question: Has Ben Affleck called it quits on sneakers?

For the longest time, I’ve comfortably referred to him as Hollywood’s biggest sneakerhead. Not in a cringe, showy way, but in a deeply committed, knows-his-shit way. I even wrote a whole article documenting every single pair in his giant collection.

He wasn’t wearing hot sneakers for attention. He was wearing them because he genuinely liked them and understood them. In my 20-plus years doing this, I’ve never seen a Nike SB Dunk rotation quite like Affleck’s. One week he’d be in the Parra collab made exclusively for the artist’s inner circle. The next he’d be in the ultra-rare ‘Eire’ colorway. Then there was that stretch of time when he kept returning to the Travis Scott x Fragment Design. Oh, and there was even that Dunkin’ Donuts pair that was customized just for him.

Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin

Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin

That’s what made the actor’s sneaker game so interesting. It was never about chasing what had just dropped or what was hyped at the time. It was about consistency, taste, and a sort of confidence that said: I know what I like and I’m sticking with it.

The last time I properly clocked him in sneakers was all the way back in April of last year, when he stepped out in the Off-White x Nike Air Force 1 ‘Black’. Now, that’s the perfect Ben Affleck shoe. It’s a classic silhouette, it’s one of the greatest collabs ever made, and it was just enough of a flex without tipping into try-hard territory. At the time, it didn’t feel like a sign off, it felt like business as usual.

Since then, though, the sneakers have just… vanished. In their place: Italian boots and proper leather shoes, worn on repeat. Not bad ones, either. Well-made, grown-up footwear by well-made, grown-up brands like Brunello Cucinelli. The sort of shoes you buy when you’ve stopped thinking about what’s coming up on the SNKRS release calendar. At first, I assumed it was method dressing—he was working on The Accountant 2, after all. I figured the kicks would be back once filming and promotion wrapped up. But that movie’s been out for over eight months now, and I still haven’t seen any sneakers on his feet in public.

Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin

PG/Bauer-Griffin

What makes it even weirder is that this is the same man who literally played Nike co-founder Phil Knight in 2023’s Air. Which raises the question: Was his extended sneaker hot streak after that film’s release also a form of hungover method dressing? Is this new turn toward serious leather footwear the real Ben Affleck re-emerging?

Over the past few months, I’ve seen the same thing happen to many guys who used to be deep into sneakers. Fellas who once camped outside sneaker shops at 5 a.m. are now wearing loafers every day. And while it may sound silly, it’s a little sad. Sneakers were fun. They were low-stakes. They gave you permission to care about something completely unserious. Watching someone like Affleck move on feels like watching the grown-up version of yourself hide away a hobby you once loved. It’s like the end of Toy Story 3 all over again.

But at the same time, I get it. Tastes evolves and priorities change! Still, I can’t help hoping this isn’t a permanent shift. That one day soon, Ben Affleck will pull up in a pair of sneakers (even if it’s something totally left-field like those Allbirds he owns). Not because he has to, but because he wants to. Because Hollywood’s biggest sneaker is still in there somewhere. Isn’t he?

This story originally appeared on British GQ.