Business Week consults Sneaker Freaker

It's a big challenge to name the top 25 sneaker designs of the past year, but Sneaker Freaker has stepped up to the challenge for Business Week.

"Bloomberg BusinessWeek's got more kicks than a Bruce Lee flick—sneakers that is. For more than a century, athletic shoes have been basically the same. Yet every year, such companies as Nike (NKE) and adidas produce thousands more designs. We teamed up with Sneaker Freaker, one of the world's foremost shoe magazines, to bring you the top 25 sneakers of 2009..."

Here's a slideshow of the shoes. For more descriptions go to the BW story. The list of shoes is surprising in that it tugs on some nostalgic heart strings with Vans and Converse making the list several times. Less surprising are the collaborations between sneaker/fashion boutiques and brands that resulted in Proper x Reebok, Patta x Nike or at its most outrageous, Jeremy Scott x adidas!

What's your flavor? It's hard to say which were the most innovative or creative sneakers of the list. Definitely the most blinged pair were the Kanye x LV sneakers. The most hip hop were House of Pain x adidas. For me, I think that Gourmet have shown me a fresh angle on an obsessive pastime!

1. Nike Yeezy
2. New Balance 850 Skippy Sneaker Freaker
3. Nike Air Jordan Raging Bull
4. Reebok Pump 20
5. adidas Hypebeast & Solebox Zeitfrei
6. Converse Auckland Racer
7. Nike Air Max 90 Dizzee Rascal
8. Gourmet
9. Nike Air Max Patta
10. adidas Kazuki ObyO
11. Reebok Proper Dual Pump Runner
12. Nike ACG Ashiko
13. Converse UNDFTD Poorman's Weapon
14. Nike Presto
15. adidas Jeremy Scott
16. Vans HUF Old Skool LX
17. Nike Supreme Bruin
18. Louis Vuitton Kanye West
19. adidas Ransom
20. Nike ACG Salbis
21. adidas House of Pain Campus 08
22. Vans Taka Hayashi
23. Puma Solebox R698 Light Ups
24. Saucony Shadow 6000 Varsity
25. Supra Skytop II