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Heels may always take top fashion honours, but sneakers are most definitely the shoes of the last century. On Thursday night, they were officially inducted into shoe history with the opening of Bata Shoe Museum’s Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture, the first exhibit of its kind in North America. Beginning with ultimate function’s first pair made in 1873 (they were called plimsoles at the time), the exhibit features everything from the iconic— Nike Dunk Supremes—to the hyper fashionable—Pierre Hardy’s Poworama sneakers.

Matching the exhibit’s out of the box theme, the museum had Toronto-born and internationally lauded industrial designer Karim Rashid, who is known to collect a sneaker or two himself, design the exhibit. In signature monochrome (this time it was head-to-toe white) Rashid kicked off the exhibit alongside the museum’s iconic founder, Sonja Bata and FASHION’s editor in chief, Bernadette Morra. After taking in a break dancing performance from Unity Charity, the crowd, which included persistent girl about town, Jen Kirsch and recent Come Date With Me Canada bachelorette Gail McInnes, hiked up three flights of stairs to take in the exhibit. To those who hiked in heels, we salute you.

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A designer’s runway bow rarely generates buzz—that is, unless it’s Phoebe Philo’s. Since the 39-year-old British fashion phenom took the reins at French luxury house Céline in 2008, she has been popping out post-show in Paris to thunderous applause for her stunning minimalist-driven collections. But lately it seems all eyes have been focused on her feet. Adidas Stan Smith trainers, Nike Air Max 90s in pink—when it comes to game-day dressing, Philo prefers to rock a pair of runners rather than a haute pair of heels. So does Kristen Stewart. At the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012, she appeared on the red carpet in a body-skimming, floral-embellished Zuhair Murad dress paired with black stilettos, which she quickly ditched in favour of her Barbara Bui leather high-tops. First Lady Michelle Obama has slipped into metallic cap-toe Lanvin sneakers to carry out her White House duties. Even fashion’s favourite street-style star, Italian clotheshorse and editor-at-large of Vogue Japan Anna Dello Russo, who is never spotted without her five-inch spikes, was photographed wearing sky-blue New Balance trainers in Milan in January.

This spring, kicks are taking a walk on the wild side on runways, including Junya Watanabe, Moschino Cheap & Chic, Ruffian, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Ashish, and at luxury footwear labels like Christian Louboutin, Giuseppe Zanotti, Jimmy Choo and Pierre Hardy. At $500 and up, these new sartorial stars won’t be clocking any time at the gym, but they might give your wallet a workout. Surprised? Don’t be—this shift toward high-end sneakers hasn’t exactly snuck up on us. Running shoes first emerged as status symbols during the 1970s. “They were worn not just in the gym or to do athletics but for shopping and on your leisure time,” says Elizabeth Semmelhack, senior curator at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto and for its latest exhibition, Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture (April 25, 2013 to April 22, 2014). Mixed-media and graphic designer Karim Rashid, famous for colourful, eclectic designs that range from furniture to footwear, also knows a thing or two about retro sneakers. As the creative vision behind this exhibition, and an avid runner, he believes that “the running shoe [conjures up] nostalgia” and that currently, “there’s a big revival going on.”

See 5 coats to covet for Fall 2013 » Sitting in mixed media designer Karim Rashid’s Technicolour boardroom on a grey, drizzly morning is the fashion equivalent of a doppio espresso. The floor is swirled with a kaleidoscope of colours; the shelves are filled with his designs–most of them cartoon-y bright. Next to Mr. Rashid, […]

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There is nothing like a blowout art party to get the who’s who of Toronto’s design scene out of the house despite frigid temps—last night’s kick-off for the Interior Design Show certainly was that. The city’s design-inclined denizens and partygoers flocked to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where they were wowed with this year’s offerings from the likes of Andrew Richard Design, international guest of honour Oki Sato and up and comers featured in the Designboom Mart, where items were up for grabs for as low as a dollar each. There was talk of an igloo too, which upon closer look, was actually the name of design duo Alain Courchesne and Anna Abbruzzo’s company: Igloodgn, who exhibited their work and play space as part of the How Do You Work? exhibit.

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Last night the Metro Toronto Convention Centre was brimming with the who’s who of Canada’s design scene, there for the opening night party of the country’s largest contemporary design fair, the Interior Design Show. Dashing gents­, like fashion designer Philip Sparks and veteran FASHION photographer George Whiteside, and sophisticated design ladies—Sarah Richardson, Dee Dee Taylor Hannah (in Christopher Kane, no less), Love It or List It’s Hilary Farr—sipped flutes of Veuve and paraded along the rows upon rows of out-of-this-world design.