Flickr has been getting a reputation as a great trend tracking tool. So inspired by the PSFK cool hunt of a few months back I thought I'd have a quick look at what patterns are emerging in the UK vs the US.

Now this isn't the most scientific way of researching but it acts as a pretty good guide as to what is going on amongst the Flickr demographic. By typing in 'sneakers' to the Flickr search tags tool bar you get to see a snapshot of what North Americans are wearing on their feet. By typing 'trainers' you can see what their UK cousins are wearing.

The first thing of note is that the baseball boot is seeing a major resurgence, and in particular the Converse Allstar boot. This trend has been pretty evident on the streets of London for the last 12 months or so but it appears to be breaking the mainstream.

A big surprise is the lack of Nike ticks on both the UK and US searches. Yes there are a few but these are far outnumbered by the classic Adidas and Puma shoes that are clearly on the up for both sides of the Atlantic.

The key trends from this very quick piece of research are that the retro look is definitely in whilst the usually omniscient Nike takes a back seat.
Tags: Trainers, Sneakers, Coolhunt, Trends