New Balance back on the Frow. Gosha’s new Reeboks. Raf’s latest designs for Adidas. Louis Vuitton’s Kim Jones backstage in monochrome Nike Air Jordans. AMI’s Velcro runway trainers. The men’s autumn/winter catwalk shows this year have provided the ideal field trip for sneaker intel to find out whether or not we’ve really seen the end of the much-loved Stan Smith.

Though, to be clear: the Stan was still sighted often during the shows (I wore mine, battered to death as they are), but there are also several contenders stepping forward to steal their crown.

Raf Simons for Adidas

If you accept that the Stan’s popularity is founded upon its simplicity and adaptability into an everyday uniform, then the latest Adidas design from Raf Simons for autumn/winter 2016, as seen at his knockout show in Paris, have fashion hit written all over them.

 Adidas by Raf Simons. Photograph: Adidas by Raf Simons

A simple black canvas pump with a red logo and red line running through the sole, these shoes will suit a cropped swingy trouser – very much a thing – come next season. And let us not forget that Simons, along with Phoebe Philo, has been a great ambassador for the Stan, with his “R” version. Though, interestingly, he took his runway bow in proper shoes, but we’ll return to that later.

Converse All Stars

Simple hi-tops are also having a moment (Marni put versions of them on its recent runway), particularly when teamed with hacked-off jeans. Converse All Stars in classic monochrome have been seen throughout this menswear season;Nick Grimshaw wore a pair on the front row at Burberry

 Agi & Sam show, London Collections: Men, Spring/Summer 2016. Photograph: SIPA/REX/Shutterstock

Designer Agi Mdumulla, one half of London-based duo Agi & Sam, is also a fan, wearing them on the catwalk earlier this month. The designer traces his love of them back to 2002. “Naturally, I have always had much more of a kinship with things that are a bit more humble and, I guess, often retro – rather than the newest Yeezys, or the technical trainer trend of 2012,” he says.

Converse backstage at the Agi & Sam show, London Collections: Men AW16. Photograph: Ian Gavan/Getty Images

New Balance

New Balance has had a sterling season. Designer Gosha Rubchinskiy has been wearing them; the fashion editor of L’Uomo Vogue, Robert Rabensteiner, (previously a Stan fan) wore various NB styles throughout the month; whileJunya Watanabe put them on his catwalk, worn with jeans sporting a 90s-style deep turn-up. David St John James, fashion director at Port magazine, was front row at Valentino in a pair. The stylist explained he liked them because they are comfortable but also – rather ironically now – because they were a bit non-fashion. “I took inspiration from those elderly gentlemen you see with impeccable dress sense – suit trousers, a tie, a mac and a pair of New Balance. All rather Forrest Gump,” he says, with a wry smile.

 Grey New Balance, as worn by Gosha Rubchinskiy. Photograph: PR company handout

Reebok Classics

Despite taking his bow in a pair of New Balance, Rubchinskiy put his models in a classic Reebok for his autumn/winter show held at Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, in Paris. Wearing jeans and track trousers yanked up high, the boys all wore the same classic Reebok trainer, in both hi- and low-top, in either black or white. The Reebok branding on the side of the shoe was replaced with PACCBET, which has previously appeared on the designer’s T-shirts. This is a shoe that will go cult. Quickly.

 Reebok Classic. Photograph: PR company handout

High-end options

There are two other sneaker brands that are not to be discounted from the Stan replacement race. First, there’s Common Projects, purveyors of clean lines and minimalist designers. These are regularly worn in fashion circles, though they have yet to go mass.

 Common Projects Achilles. Photograph: PR company handout

Ditto the relative design newcomer Eytys, which hails from Stockholm and whose designs, including its signature Mother shoe, are equally lo-fi and slot easily into a uniform. For next season, the brand is adding a faux-furry lined style, which rather nicely ticks the secret luxury box.

 Eytys Mother sneakers. Photograph: PR company handout

Personally, I’m also a fan of a white Velcro trainer, which French label AMI has done for both this season and next. FYI, there is always the Stan Velcro version if you can’t bear to be parted from your

AMI’s white velcro trainers. Photograph: PR company handout

Is the new Stan Smith a shoe?

But let’s end on some controversy. If we return to Simons wearing a classic shoe to take his runway bow (not that this is unheard of – he regularly wore shoes for bowing in during the Dior era), Adrian Clark, style director of ShortList thinks that, rather than having reached peak Stan, we’ve actually reached peak Sneaker. “For the first time in quite some time, I am not feeling the sneaker. It feels like it has run it course. Athletic footwear has reached saturation, mainly due to the relentless trend for sport luxe designer wear and apparel,” he says. Instead, Clark is backing a “rounded toe, classic derby” for next season. Imagine it. Plain shoes as the new Stans? What do you think?