Because Maison Margiela’s Tabi are becoming the most sought-after shoes of the moment despite their divisive design

On the feet of certain fashionistas you may have already come across strange shoes marked by a separation between the big toe and the others, like flip-flops turned upside down. They are the famous Tabi shoes by Maison Margiela, which this quarter have become the most sought-after models according to the quarterly ranking drawn up by Lyst, an always very informed e-commerce platform.

Where does the boom in interest in Maison Margiela’s Tabi décolleté come from?

According to this ranking, Miu Miu has just overtaken Loewe as the most coveted brands, followed by Prada, Bottega Veneta and Versace. But it is on the side of specific pieces that the Lyst ranking proves to be more fascinating, given that at the top we find the Tabi by Maison Margiela: + 342% of searches from the famous story of ” Tabi Swiper » (a New Yorker shared on TikTok like her date Tinder stole his shoes, becoming the fashion saga of September. For a long time, a pair of shoes designed by fashion connoisseurs, particularly controversial and expensive, would have been on the verge of becoming mainstream ? From €350 for a pair of simple flip-flops, to €2,990 for crystal-encrusted derbies, to €890 for Mary Janes, it’s clear that these shoes aren’t likely to get any more popular. But this sudden popular interest has the merit of bringing their story back to light.

The history of Tabi shoes by Maison Margiela

Their creator, Martin Margiela (who left the artistic direction of the house that bears his name in 2009) was inspired by the traditional Japanese work shoes, the tabi, which appeared in the^And century. They owe their sock shape to the separation between the big toe and the others, according to a reflexological belief that this crack would promote balance and promote clarity of mind. Initially reserved for an elite due to the scarcity of cotton, and then expanding to other social classes according to a very specific color code, they ended up being equipped with rubber soles at the beginning of the 20th century.^And century, becoming the jika-tabi still worn by workers today. It was to give the illusion of a bare foot resting on a high heel that Martin Margiela first reinterpreted them on the Parisian catwalks in 1988. The finale of this house’s inaugural show saw models walking around with red paint under their shoes, marking their passage with footprints, immediately making the model even more fascinating and already cult.

Since then, Maison Margiela has launched them every season, in all shapes (ballerinas, boots, pumps and even sneakers), colors and materials (leather, rubber, crystals), this best-seller that guarantees for almost forty years relative financial serenity. . Whether you think they look like pig’s feet or a nugget of design, Tabi have never stopped dividing and therefore fascinating.

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