Against All Odds, I’ve Fallen in Love With Balenciaga’s Toe Heels BY
I wanted to give the boots a try, you know, because they are truly a level of mystifying heinousness. The shoe feels so far from what we think of when it comes to fashion. But then again, that’s Balenciaga’s M.O. under Demna Gvasalia. I’m always fascinated by Gvasalia, who was also the designer for Vetements from 2014 year to 2019. Whenever we see his designs, it at first feels like the clothes are made to become a meme. The layered coats from fall 2018 were compared to Joey from Friends, and his humongous dresses from spring 2020 felt like a social-distancing dream. And yet, there seems to always be elegance to even the most outrageous pieces. Those coats are ever-so-carefully tailored and those gigantic dresses are otherworldly. But can that magic be extended to Vibram FiveFingers? Can footwear that I believed were exclusively beloved by men in a midlife fitness-kick crisis and overzealous outdoors fanatics be elegant?
Cinderella had the glass slipper, and I have the Balenciaga toe heels. The shoe, which was released on e-commerce sites recently and retails for a whopping $1,290, combines Vibram’s FiveFinger form with a heel—every knobby toe is encased in its own bulbous, rubber-padded sleeve. Sounds weird? Sure. But this will sound weirder: I’ve never felt hotter than I did while wearing the shoes. The upper of the boots, made from a recycled knit, ever-so elegantly slides onto my foot as if I’m slipping my hand into a silk opera glove. And when I walk, it’s like Big Foot splaying his toes on the ground, marking his territory by making an imprint on the earth.
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