High Fashion Sneakers...thoughts?

A sneaky (get it??) thing seems to be happening in fashion lately and I'm not quite warmed up to the idea yet (or maybe, it's just that I think I can't pull it off). Of course, those classic converse sneakers have remained a mainstay in fashion over the years...worn by everyone from college students to high fashion models running all over town on go-sees. But lately, sneakers seem to be getting a bit of a face lift. They're getting brighter and shinier (like the ones Marc Jacob showed above for Spring 2012), a little boxier and kinda futuristic looking.

As far as I can tell, it all started with it-designer among Hollywood's cool girls, Isabel Marant and her Beckett sneaker. I went from seeing the shoes on the street style shots of fashion week attendees to spotting them on celebs like cool moms Miranda Kerr and Heidi Klum.

So what's a fashionista to do? I have a sneaking (ha! I did it again!) suspicion that knock offs of these babies will be all over the mass market come spring, especially with the celebrity endorsement.

Are they worth it, or will they look too ridiculous if they're not the coveted, original Marants? Would you spend half a mortgage payment on a pair of the designer version??What do you guys think?