One of my favorite parts about Fashion Week are the shoes. I can’t always afford the clothes that walk down the runway, but the footwear, just as gorgeous, usually retails for a more palatable price. So, when I’m looking at the collections, my eyes naturally turn down to the models’ feet – I consider it a preview of what I might see on my own next season.
At BCBG Max Azria, the very first runway show of New York Fashion Week, I noticed a pair of fur-covered booties in what I’d initially considered a fashion fluke – a unique piece more on display for its artistry, like the one-off pumps from the Spring 2013 Céline collection.
But then, I spied a pair of fuzzy stilettos at Monique Lhuillier. “Surely that’ll be it,” I thought. Not a day later came a series of furry flats and loafers at Tibi, which got me genuinely nervous – and not just because three makes a trend. I rarely go a season without buying a pair of shoes from Tibi, a brand known for its wearable offerings. Is this really what my footwear future has in store? Still, I tried to ignore it, but there they were, walking down the Fall 2015 runways at Derek Lam and Christian Siriano. And down the runways across the pond at London Fashion Week. And at the collection for Topshop.
And then came Gucci.
The Italian fashion house sent not furry, not fuzzy, but full-on hairy shoes down its catwalk. From there, it was a parade of foot toupees at Dolce & Gabbana and Salvatore Ferragamo, and now, with them already taking over Paris Fashion Week, I can no longer turn a blind eye.
You see, I remember, not long ago, when flatforms hit the runways. I hated them, and now they’re everywhere. I also recall when sneakers started appearing in the shows of the world’s top designers, and I thought to myself, “Sneakers with a dress? How ridiculous!” And now look at what’s happened. And it’s not just me: the masses collectively protested skinny jeans when they first hit the market, but now they’re so pervasive, even our mothers are wearing them – and not in that unflattering mom-jeans way.
Does this mean we are all going to be wearing hairy shoes come September? Does this mean that a year from today, I’ll be sitting right where I am now, combing my own pair of hairy loafers, lamenting the next terrible shoe trend?
Or am I overreacting? See the evidence, and then tell us what you think of this new (shudder) style of shoe.
