Can footwear get any uglier? Is there anything worse than those polyethylene-packed triple-decker Crocs at Balenciaga? Or what about the Grim Reaper scythe-front sneakers heralding the death of sex at Loewe? But if there is a final frontier of footwear fails, then I think I have found it: the toe shoe. While indulging my guilty pleasure—late-night toe cleavage searches in the recesses of my favorite Instagram account @crimesagainstshoemanity—I came across this mutant strain. It was almost wiggling at me, asking for me to take a screenshot.
You’ve seen the toe shoe: It’s the geeky sneak with separated toes that’s built to support barefoot-style running. In this case, the shoe was superimposed with the Balenciaga logo. For a split second, I thought it was real. (It wasn’t. The creator of @crimesagainstshoemanity, Rebel Royale, created it as a joke on Instagram.) But could it ever show up on the runway? “I’m not against a ‘toe-centric shoe’ entirely, as I have a special place in my heart for the Margiela Tabi boot/shoe, but for some reason the five-toe splay is just something I don’t want to see in the form of a shoe,” Royale writes. “My 2018 prediction of the Balenciaga toe shoe is what [I] can only assume will be the next logical step to their ugly shoe trend . . . There is definitely a market for the toe shoe because it’s the complete opposite of ‘beauty.’ Classically beautiful things are now worn by people like Ivanka Trump which now taints them.”
Maybe Royale is onto something with this oddball theory. Labels embraced the toe in a big way on the Spring 2018 runways. Y/Project featured hooflike mules (adorned with cheerful cherries and in highlighter yellow) that left the big toe uncovered. Ungulate chic! And just today, Danish street style star Pernille Teisbaek seemed to reverse that recipe, wearing the Céline pirate sandal that covered the big toe and bared the other four. Speaking of Céline—and toes—on a funny note, the spoof fashion account @siduations posted a nail file against a pair of Céline’s toe pumps as a farewell to the label’s retiring creative director Phoebe Philo.
On a tamer note, tabi thong sandals are fresh and back. Jil Sander’s bungee cord–strapped hexagonal flat sandals cinched—actually, almost suffocated—the big toe. At Alexander Wang, it appeared as if there was a mere toe ring holding the shoe together. A minimalist toe strap made a cameo at Michael Kors and Rejina Pyo.
It’s a possibility we might go toe to toe with, well, the toe in 2018. And yes, there might even be room for a more stylish toe shoe. A leading brand of toe shoes, Vibram, now offers phalange-forward styles to fit a “casual day” (insulated, too!). Maybe, it isn’t so far-fetched to think that Balenciaga will send a pair out, or even collaborate with Vibram. Either way, 2018 is already the year of the toe. Now, let that little piggy out on the town.
Below, see nine toe-centric shoes to purchase now.
courtesy= vogue.com
