# Magillard sneakers? Holy crap, there’s way more to these than I thought

It happened last Wednesday. I was just browsing around a vintage store in Barcelona when I suddenly spotted a pair of Magillard sneakers. Black, low-top. My heart skipped a beat—weren’t these discontinued ages ago?

Then I remembered that I’d bought a pair on Litbuy last month. Black, low-top. At the time, I thought the price was pretty good and didn’t think much of it. But now, looking at the pair in the vintage shop, I suddenly felt like I needed to take a closer look at the ones I bought.

The first thing I did when I got home was take the shoes out of the box. I checked the material first. With Magilla, the material is key. With a good batch, the leather feels—wow. It’s not smooth; it has a bit of a velvety texture. It’s very soft, like touching a kitten’s ear. The pair I bought on Litbuy feels exactly like that. But the pair I handled at the vintage store felt completely different—dry and rough, like sandpaper.

You can’t fool yourself when it comes to texture. A good pair of Magilla feels warm and supple in your hands. A bad one feels cold and hard. I don’t know why, but you can just tell.

The stitching. This is crucial. Magilla’s stitching is all about precision. It’s not just about having dense stitching; every stitch needs to be spaced evenly. I looked at my pair with a magnifying glass (yes, I actually used one), and the stitching was eerily neat. The pair from the vintage shop had spots where the stitch spacing was noticeably uneven.

Inner lining details. Most people don’t pay attention to this. But Magilla’s inner lining is exceptionally well-crafted. In good batches, the lining fabric is very soft, and the stitching is neat. My pair feels incredibly comfortable against the skin. In poor batches, the lining can feel a bit rough, and the stitching might be crooked.

The suede texture. I have to address this separately. The texture of the high-end versions is truly remarkable. It’s not just surface-level fuzz; it’s a texture inherent to the leather itself. When you touch it, you’ll feel as though the leather is alive. The lower-end versions, on the other hand, feel dry and rough—like an old, neglected leather sofa.

The tongue label. Magilla’s training shoes have a label on the tongue. In the replica series, the number “22” is usually circled. On my pair, the “22” is circled. But on the pair I smelled at the vintage store, the “22” wasn’t circled. This is a detail many people don’t know.

Most importantly, smell it. Seriously, this is the most reliable indicator. Natural leather has its own distinct scent. It’s not a perfume-like fragrance; it’s the leather’s natural aroma. The pair I bought from Litbuy smells like genuine leather. But the pair I smelled at the vintage store had a pungent, industrial glue smell.

When it comes to batches, there are currently a few mainstream batches of Magilla reissues on the market. But I can’t say for sure which batch is good and which isn’t. That’s because batches are constantly changing. A batch that was good last month might not be so great this month.

However, the authentication methods are universal: material, texture, stitching, lining, fleece feel, label, and smell. If you keep these points in mind, you’ll be able to make a pretty accurate judgment.

I bought this pair on Litbuy, and after running through my authentication checklist, I think it’s legit. The material is right, the feel is right, the stitching is right, the lining is right, the fleece texture is right, the label is right, and the smell is right. Seven out of seven—they all check out.

That said, authentication really comes down to experience. I can tell the difference because I’ve seen both the real thing and the fakes. The more you see, the more of a feel you get for it.

If you’re just starting out, I suggest you don’t rush into buying. Take your time to look and feel. Visit physical stores to see the genuine articles, and check out various versions on secondhand platforms. The more you see, the sharper your eye will become.

Magilla training shoes are pretty popular right now. But where there’s popularity, there are plenty of fakes. Not all reproductions are bad, but you have to know how to pick them.

I’ve bought quite a few things on Litbuy—some good, some not so good. But with these Magillards, I feel I made the right choice. Not because they were cheap, but because they’re worth the price.

Authentication, at the end of the day, is a skill. It’s not something you can learn just by reading a few articles. You have to practice, touch, smell, and feel.