Dries Van Noten and Simone Rocha furthered the ongoing case for the male ballet flat. At Dries, Julian Klausner embraced the lace-up, be it the criss-crossing ties on his candy-colored slip-ons or the mules with leather cords that wrapped around the ankles. Rocha, in her menswear runway debut, presented a pair of black Mary-Jane flats reminiscent of ballet class basics—bow detail and all.
Elsewhere, there were a host of collaborations, like Willy Chavarria, who, in partnership with Ugg, offered a heeled suede loafer. Rick Owens, meanwhile, pushed the limits of the Adidas Megaride with avant-garde, three-striped sneaker boots.
Sandals were par for the course, too. Though there were more straightforward takes, like the classic Birkenstocks at Sacai and slides at Lemaire, Michael Rider pushed the open-toe to the limit. At Celine, he suggested the men’s counterpart to the tie-on Chanel non-shoes: sandals that connected only to a few toes and barely-there T-straps.
Despite the season (and the hideous heatwave), designers also proposed subversive springtime boots. To go with his diaphanous long-sleeves, Anthony Vacarrello sent transparent PVC and leather ankle boots down the Saint Laurent runway, while Rei Kawakubo got to the point at Comme des Garçons Homme Plus with a pair of pointy-toe boots that curved upward.
With the menswear collections finally playing catch-up, freaky footwear is standing on the brink of gender equality. Now, let’s see if men step up to the challenge.
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