I consider myself a pretty adventurous person when it comes to fashion, but now that I’ve seen Y/Project’s high heels that put the wearer’s big toe in the spotlight, suddenly I’m not so sure. As part of the brand’s Spring 2019 runway show during Paris Fashion Week, designer Glenn Martens debuted the shoe that got everyone talking, and not necessarily in a good way.
- I’m not sure how comfortable they can be. While I admire Y/Project’s ingenuity in creating a shoe that literally only shows the big toe, it seems like a recipe for even more foot pain. Heels aren’t very comfortable at the best of times, and designing one in which your big toe juts forward while the others are crammed into the shoe seems like it could cause some issues. Of course, this is about fashion, not relaxation, so maybe I’m missing the point!
- It’s all about construction. Martens didn’t necessarily create a high heel that heralds the big toe because he thought it looked amazing but because it speaks to Y/Project’s brand ethos as a whole. “The whole basis of the collection is always the construction,” he told Footwear News. “We’re not just streetwear, we’re not just couture, we’re not just tailoring; we’re all of those things together.”
- It’s definitely a look. Not everyone can carry off a heel in general, let alone one that asks you to take putting your big toe on display seriously and considering it high fashion. That being said, the, models who wore them on the runway totally made them look incredible and even enviable, so I think it just depends on who you are as to how they’ll look.
- Would you wear Y/Project’s big toe high heels? I’m legitimately curious! Granted, it’s likely they’d be hard to get a hold of now and probably out of most of our budgets anyway. But assuming cost was no problem, would you try these?
