With Nike’s controversial Vaporfly technology (and the suggestion that it amounts to doping) just scraping into the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the incremental advantage that the latest footwear can grant you on the track should never be dismissed. The following freshly dropped sneakers can give you a headstart in the style stakes, too. To keep you on your toes, we’ve rounded up the five most sought-after shoes due to land on MR PORTER in February. They range from Fear of God’s take on the oldest of old-school classics to Nike’s prepper kit for a post-apocalyptic future. Not to mention adidas’ newest kicks, designed for, erm, gardening. You’ll need to be quicker than a sprinter wearing a pair of Vaporflys to grab some as each shoe is available in very limited numbers. On your marks…

Following the launch of his more accessible Fear Of God Essentials diffusion line, designer Mr Jerry Lorenzo’s latest collaboration with Converse is another suitably elevated riff on the Chuck Taylor. A return to source, this is the original basketball shoe given a subtle but significant tweak. Note the contrast tongue, extended lace loop and Fear Of God logo on one heel.

As far as adidas collaborators go, 70-year-old TV gardener and daytime broadcaster Mr Alan Titchmarsh is an unlikely choice. Part of adidas Consortium’s Gardening Club collection, which Mr Titchmarsh modelled last year (yes, really), this iteration borrows its back end from the archive Novaturbo sandal, while the strap set-up makes it easy to slip off, no matter how grubby, or green, your fingers are. A pair for, as adidas puts it, “avant-gardeners”, which would look the part at the Chelsea Flower Show, if not the next Y-3 runway show.

Premium, yes, but the latest reworking of the legendary Uptown is decidedly down to earth. The spring release comes, perhaps perversely, in an autumnal Red Bark colourway, with a rugged, reptilian textured leather upper that builds on last season’s Snakeskin iteration. A classic, scaled up. (Sorry.)

A tooled-up take on the already pretty chunky Air Max 720, Nike’s ISPA (Improvise, Scavenge, Protect and Adapt) programme has this sneaker primed for Armageddon. The survivalist’s shoe of choice, this model is built to withstand whatever you can throw at it, but you’ll still look the part come the dystopian environmental meltdown. Meeting at an unthinkable midway point between performance, durability, utility and overblown apocalyptic styling, this is what you want on your feet when the world ends.

Proof that you can’t spell functional without fun, recent generations of Asics running shoes have gained traction beyond the tracks, courses and roads where they are rightly revered. Recent collaborations with brands such as Patta and designers including Mr Ronnie Fieg have added serious style clout to the Japanese sportswear brand’s output. The standout team-up has to be with Bulgarian designer Mr Kiko Kostadinov because, well, wait till you see these shoes. The vibrant green iteration with checkerboard uppers are guaranteed to make an impact while cushioning your feet as they hit the asphalt.