It’s the perfect antidote to carefully curated online environments. As Phillips puts it: “a lot of these shoes also carry a kind of anti-perfection energy.” And, “in a moment where personal style feels increasingly performative and optimised, an unusual shoe can signal individuality, humour, discernment, or even a refusal to dress in an overly predictable way”.
Palmer agrees. “In the age of AI slop, perfectly curated Instagram feeds, predictable algorithms etc these ‘ugly’ shoes feel like a juxtaposition to the ‘perfection’ we see online.”
In that way, these shoes can become a bit anarchic: “you can wear a Damson Madder ‘girly’ frilly outfit with a Nike split-toe Air Rift shoe and it feels like a middle finger to the beauty standards and gender conventions we’re being served,” says Palmer.
These hybrids also mirror broader cultural mashups: the blurring of work and leisure, masculine and feminine codes, high fashion and functionality – J’Nae Phillips
Plus, lines are blurring everywhere we look, not just in fashion, and hybrids are a natural by-product: another good example are the Franken-pastries rising in the world of baking, where croissants, doughnuts and cookies are constantly being cross-baked. For Phillips, “in many ways, these hybrids also mirror broader cultural mashups: the blurring of work and leisure, masculine and feminine codes, high fashion and functionality.”
The approach shoe
Plus, she says, “we’re seeing the continued collapse of boundaries between utility wear, sportswear, orthopaedic design, luxury fashion and internet aesthetics.” In this light, “shoes originally designed for hiking, recovery, barefoot movement or pure practicality now read as culturally interesting because they disrupt conventional ideas of elegance or attractiveness.”
The approach shoe is a current trend – and is a cross between a hiking shoe and a climbing shoe.
READ MORE ON THE NEXT PAGE…
