Vogue Staffers Go Toe-to-Toe Over Chanel’s Freaky New Shoes

Reported by Vogue.

Chanel's latest resort shoes aren't shoes at all—they're heels with the sole removed, leaving models' feet essentially bare except for delicate straps. Designer Matthieu Blazy sent them down the Biarritz runway earlier this month, and they've sparked the kind of debate that only fashion can ignite: intriguing provocation or impractical nonsense?

According to Vogue, the response from the industry's editorial ranks has been split—though tellingly, even the skeptics can't quite dismiss them. The shoes represent a logical (if absurd) endpoint in an evolution: as sneakers get flatter and sandals thinner, why not eliminate the footwear entirely? The bare-foot-with-heels concept channels both the luxe-minimalism of elevated flip-flops and something more playful—a wink to Karl Lagerfeld's talent for creating viral moments. For Blazy's Chanel debut, it's the kind of slightly off-kilter move that signals confidence rather than desperation.

The Pedicure Question

The real conversation isn't whether these are wearable—obviously, they're a runway fantasy. It's about what they signal culturally. We're in a foot-forward moment (hello, sandal season maximalism), and there's something inherently Greek-god about a heel that's barely there. The piece of the question becomes less "would you actually wear this?" and more "who's audacious enough to try?" The consensus picks? Tilda Swinton, Dua Lipa, Chloé Sevigny—women comfortable living outside convention. The real barrier isn't practicality; it's having a pedicure ready and the kind of life where sidewalks are optional.

For those of us bound to the subway and rat-adjacent streets, these exist purely as conversation fodder. But that's exactly the point. Fashion doesn't always need to solve problems—sometimes it just needs to make you feel something, even if that something is "absolutely not." Blazy's anti-shoe proves that the boldest move isn't always the most wearable.

Read the original at Vogue.