At the Chanel resort show in Seoul last Tuesday, wispy fabrics and bubblegum colors abounded. But the clothes’ frilly appearance was anchored by shoes far less dainty — with a toe whose elegance looked like it was daftly lopped off into a square shape. While a shock to the pointy-toe fanatic, the appearance of squared shoes at Chanel was not the year’s first. In fact, the controversial shape has also made recent appearances in fall 2015 collections from Céline, Miu Miu, Marni and more. The style is so prevalent that — however jarring to consumers — it’s turning out to be the shape of the season.
Designers tie the style’s resurgence to the current revival of Seventies aesthetics: references previously thought to be among the most hideous in history that are now bouncing back for a second go-around. According to them, the decade’s stylistic resurgence is a chic proposition for hungry shoppers. And their scheme has worked, but only partially. Consumers may be eating up the seed-stitched denim flying off the racks at Zara or the Hippie lace-ups from Valentino. But when it comes to square toes, more than two-thirds of consumers are confounded, according to a poll conducted by WWD, and say they would not buy or wear the styles. The same ratio feels that square toes would be unflattering. And an even more stark three-quarters of respondents attest that they would be more inclined to purchase pointed-toe shoes over those that are squared.
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The haste for square toes is nothing new, nor is their heavy-handed appearance on store shelves. So why do they keep coming back for more? Even Manolo Blahnik, who’s released the fall season’s subtlest take on square toes, said, “They have never been successful. I always try to make them work, and I don’t know why.”
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The new square toes run the gamut from the exaggerated (Derek Lam, Chanel) to an elongated middle ground (Miu Miu, new London brand Dorateymur) to the ever so slight (Manolo Blahnik, Bally). With such variety, design emporiums such as Le Bon Marché, Ikram and Opening Ceremo- ny report picking up the styles — though many would not report what percentage the shape represents in the scheme of their overall shoe buy. Many, including Fabienne Ruset, women’s accessories director at Le Bon Marché, say the style is already showing popularity among fashion-forward, younger consumers.
Other retailers admitted that they had not picked up the square toe for the season. A New York-based retailer who asked not to be identified, said: “I think the people who are saying ‘It’s chic’ probably like it because it’s a new update, and all retailers like new updates because that’s a reason for shoppers to add something to their closets.”
They added, “Let’s put it this way: It makes your leg and ankle look bad, and it’s not going to help you sell any dresses.”
Lam himself said he was inspired to bring back the square toe, because, “we have seen so many classic pumps on people with a pointy toe, it just started looking a little stale, so I thought it was a good time to segue into a new silhouette.”
Lam, who is currently looking to bolster his shoe business with the help of a licensee, added, “Fall is always the best season for shoes….A new proposal is definitely what the retailers are looking for — you kind of want to go in and make a proposal where the retailers are saying, ‘Oh, we don’t already have that.’”
For this, there appear to be two sides to the square-toe-shoe coin: Designers and select buyers who find them infinitely chic, and the general consumer who appears to think the opposite.
When perusing Saks Fifth Avenue’s Zip Code-bestowed shoe floor last week with one of Lam’s styles for fall, consumers offered mixed re- actions. Shopper Sari Schneidman said the shoes’ toe makes them “look a little bit like a platypus.” She did note, however, “I bet you everyone will have at least one pair of these [square toes] in their closet when they start selling them.”
Nearby, another shopper, Melanie Taxin, said of the style: “I’m not a fan. I think I could get used to it, but I think it just looks too old-fashioned. I’m still into a dainty-looking shoe. I think it makes you look stubby. It doesn’t elongate; it doesn’t make the foot look sexy.”
Taxin, a former apparel-industry worker, said she found the shoe to be an example of how “the market becomes saturated with one type of a look…so designers need to generate business and come up with something new.” She does not think that the shoe will be a mainstay among her contemporaries who wore squared styles in the Seventies, but feels that they will catch on “with the younger girls who haven’t worn it yet.”
In fact, WWD’s survey reflected the same sen- timent. Just more than half of respondents admitted that they could see the square-toe styles catching on as a trend.
Lam said that such is to be expected: “When something dramatically changes in footwear, it takes time for people’s eyes to acclimate.”
The anonymous retailer, however, said: “A good fashion designer trains the eye, so it’s great to have ideas and be experimental — some of these new ideas will really take off. Others will not.”