VALENTINO has long been known for couture gowns in its signature scarlet and luxurious bags decorated with extravagant leather rosettes. But high-top sneakers with thick, stitched rubber soles? Surprise, surprise - you can now count those among its wares too.

For the first time in its 51-year history, Valentino has begun producing sneakers. Make no mistake, these are high-end kicks, priced at $1,200 per pair and covered in lace with sexy black ribbons in lieu of shoelaces, but they're cousins of Converse all the same, just ones that are designed to cover ground between couture chic and street style.

The fashion house isn't the only one to have stepped into this unlikely market. Over the past couple of years, luxe labels have piled onto the sneaker bandwagon in a bid to feed growing demand for high-end kicks.

Among them are Bruno Magli, Louis Vuitton, Zegna Sport, Bally and Yves Saint Laurent; last year Michelle Obama was spotted wearing a pair of Lanvin sneakers, and since October Gucci has been opening temporary sneaker stores around the world to sell shoes designed in collaboration with music artiste Mark Ronson.

Other fashion-forward collaborations that have entered the market of late include Marc Jacobs' designs for Vans; Jeremy Scott's for Adidas; Jil Sander's for Puma; and the most recent, Alice + Olivia's creations for Keds, which can be found at accessories boutique Pedder Red. On top of that, fine shoemakers such as Christian Louboutin and Jimmy Choo - who are better known for their dainty stilettoes - have also launched sneaker lines.

All that can only mean one thing: that the humble sneaker has officially become a part of high fashion. And shoppers have shown themselves willing to pay the corresponding high prices for these shoes, too.

Take Louis Vuitton's sneaker range, for instance. The brand has recorded strong sales for its sneakers every year since it launched them some years back, and last year its limited edition range of Kanye West for Louis Vuitton kicks (which were priced from US$840 per pair) sold out.

'Louis Vuitton sneakers have always been popular and the collaboration with Kanye West in 2009 further increased awareness and visibility for our men's sneakers,' says the brand's communications manager Aileen Png. In fact, she adds, Louis Vuitton sneakers are now so in demand that the label has come up with 'matching sets of parent and child sneakers'.

The fact that high fashion brands are coming up with - and receiving an enthusiastic response to - sneakers is driving growth on multiple levels of the sneaker scene, reckon some industry players. Says Anthony Ho, founder of local sneaker purveyor Leftfoot: 'This high fashion sneaker trend has definitely opened up the sneaker market by creating a new breed of sneaker aficionados among the high fashion label spenders.'

Sneakers have also 'started to replace the traditional loafers as weekend shoes among working adults', he observes - an opinion that is backed up by John Ng of Sidefame, a retail company which started sneaker store 33 Thirty Three at Paragon in November to offer shoppers more fashionable and designer-driven sneakers (it's stocked with the likes of G-Star, Double Identity and Police). Notes Mr Ng: 'There is a growing group of corporate individuals who buy our sneakers because they feel it completes their look rather than because they want it for casual use, like to wear to the market or to play a sport.'

Likewise, specialist sneaker chain Limited Edt has noticed 'a recent trend of a lot of older adults buying sneakers, especially the designer collaborations', which could be attributed to the fact that these designer-dolled-up sneakers 'look more like semi-formal or work shoes rather than sports shoes', says the store's general manager Mandeep Chopra. He adds: 'I guess many of these buyers like the comfort but also the coolness factor of wearing an exclusive pair of sneakers.'

To cater to the growing market, Limited Edt recently opened a store in Marina Bay Sands Shoppes called Limited Edt Chamber, which stocks designer collaborations as well as more niche designer labels such as Android Homme, a cult sneaker label known for its high fashion designs and use of top-end materials. The boutique also has a members-only room which stocks some older, hard-to-find releases as well as rare collections.

But will the stampede of sneakers that is feeding the present footwear frenzy eventually prove to be the industry's Achilles' heel as well? Some sneaker lovers believe so. Local sneaker collector and customiser Mark Ong, who works under the name SBTG and sells his designs online at www.royalefam.com, says: 'It used to be that sneaker collectors such as myself would collect vintage sneakers because they were hard to find and no longer in production, but those days are gone. 'With so many reissues of vintage models by the sneaker brands, the entrance of different sneaker labels and the sheer number of collaborations in the market, sneaker collecting is no longer quite the challenge it used to be.'

That is key to why, he believes, Royalefam (whose designs retail from US$500 upwards) has a sizeable customer base - 'I can give them something that is truly unique; on good months, I can sell up to one pair a day', says Mr Ong. Chooee Hwang, sneaker collector and founder of sneaker blog www.streething.com, agrees. He says: 'The sneaker industry has changed in that the choices that are available are much greater, up to the point of saturation. People aren't queuing up for sneakers every week now, because they've seen it all.

'Those reverse-crocodile-skin-reflective-whatever high tops might have been cool a few years ago as a special release, but since then we have seen hundreds more like it, so it's just normal now. The gimmicks are running thin; eventually people won't buy shoes just because they're limited editions any more.'

This article was first published in The Business Times.