![]() As Mair explains, "Our vision has evolved to allow us to automatically process, without attention, objects which are typical or representative of their category, so we can use our limited cognitive resources to pay attention to unusual objects that might be a threat. They were also about 90s rave culture – they had this element of practicality for people who were stomping around in a field till all hours of the morning." Platform trainers were themselves inspired by 1970s platforms, Stevenson notes, which were also designed for dancing – for standing up for hours on end, while standing out amid the glitz and glamour of the disco era.Īnd, in the case of the cartoon shoe, standing out is very much the point. "They were representative of oppositional cultural politics and female empowerment, and they had a unisex appeal too. They were very hard to walk in, though – some were 20 inches high."Įven more pertinent a predecessor, in Stevenson's opinion, is the 1990s reference that many of today's oversized shoes appear to draw on: "the big, Spice Girls-style trainers, like the platform Buffalo boots," she says. "They were built for practicality originally, to protect the wearer's feet from the streets, but then became a fashionable item in their own right, taking on this symbolic meaning about social position, because their height conveyed the status of the wearer. "Perhaps the earliest link is the chopine," she tells BBC Culture, referring to one of the first iterations of the platform, worn by Venetian noblewomen between the late 15th and early 17th Century. In terms of functionality, Caroline Stevenson, programme director of cultural and historical studies at London College of Fashion, sees similar correlations in some of the other historical precedents of the cartoon shoe, with its raised sole and protective padding. They allowed women to take up space, and gave them freedom of movement." "The shoes were tough and practical, but also made a big statement. "That said, they made them quite decorative, using ribbons for laces, for instance, and bright-coloured leathers like purple, pink and green," Pollen continues. The UK shoemakers, who included all-women's collectives like Green Shoes, Orchid Shoes and Made to Last, frequently advertised in feminist magazine Spare Rib, billing sensible shoes as a form of resistance. "And at the same time, it subverts more traditional ideals of beauty in preference for novel, unconventional aesthetics." So, what does our newfound interest in clompy, cartoonesque footwear signify? "In one sense, it communicates a desire for non-conformity and personal expression, which aligns with contemporary values of individuality and self-confidence," Dr Carolyn Mair, a cognitive psychologist and fashion business consultant, and the author of The Psychology of Fashion, tells BBC Culture. In August, like Balenciaga before them, MSCHF paired up with Crocs to present the "big yellow boots"– a sunflower-yellow take on the BRB, bearing Crocs' trademark holes and heel strap – while Marni is set to release its "big foot 2.0" sneakers this week at Paris fashion week, a more exaggerated, decidedly comic-book take on the Italian house's 2018 platform trainer. And, across mens' and womenswear alike, the craze appears to show no sign of slowing down. Meanwhile, the launch of the spring/summer 2023 collections provided a more refined take on the cartoon-channelling shoe, from Prada's proudly puffy nappa loafers to Loewe's comic lacquered foam pumps (seemingly inspired by Minnie Mouse's oversized, slip-on high heels) to Proenza Schouler's pillowy Arc platform mules. Seeming to have leapt straight from the pages of the 1990s Japanese manga series Astro Boy, the giant, pillarbox-red boots, rendered in TPU and EVA foam, are simultaneously nostalgic, futuristic, and utterly absurd as MSCHF declared in its press release, "If you kick someone in these boots, they go boing!" Yet, despite their silliness and inadvertent suction issues – see the viral TikTok video in which one wearer gets stuck in their BRBs – the unisex boots were soon being sported by everyone from Doja Cat and Lil Nas X to Iggy Azalea and Janelle Monáe. ![]() ![]() Pre-empted by the likes of Bottega Veneta’s BV "puddle boot" (a chunky-soled rubber rain boot with a bulbous toe that debuted in 2020), and Kerwin Frost's super-stuffed Adidas Superstars (a 2021 collaboration that saw the classic Superstar sneaker padded out to appear clownishly large), the maximalist look was galvanised in February of this year when the US label and art collective MSCHF released its attention-grabbing "big red boot". But it has also seen the rise of a new, more surprising one: the cartoonishly oversized shoe. From cowboy boots and kitten heels to Mary Janes and court shoes, 2023 has heralded the return of many established shoes to the runway. ![]()
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