Dries Van Noten and Simone Rocha furthered the ongoing case for the male ballet flat. At Dries, Julian Klausner embraced the lace-up, be it the criss-crossing ties on his candy-colored slip-ons or the mules with leather cords that wrapped around the ankles. Rocha, in her menswear runway debut, presented a pair of black Mary-Jane flats reminiscent of ballet class basics—bow detail and all.
Elsewhere, there were a host of collaborations, like Willy Chavarria, who, in partnership with Ugg, offered a heeled suede loafer. Rick Owens, meanwhile, pushed the limits of the Adidas Megaride with avant-garde, three-striped sneaker boots.
Saint Laurent spring 2027 menswear
Photo: Salvatore Dragone / Gorunway.com
Comme des Garçons spring 2027 menswear
Photo: Salvatore Dragone / Gorunway.com
Sandals were par for the course, too. Though there were more straightforward takes, like the classic Birkenstocks at Sacai and slides at Lemaire, Michael Rider pushed the open-toe to the limit. At Celine, he suggested the men’s counterpart to the tie-on Chanel non-shoes: sandals that connected only to a few toes and barely-there T-straps.
Despite the season (and the hideous heatwave), designers also proposed subversive springtime boots. To go with his diaphanous long-sleeves, Anthony Vacarrello sent transparent PVC and leather ankle boots down the Saint Laurent runway, while Rei Kawakubo got to the point at Comme des Garçons Homme Plus with a pair of pointy-toe boots that curved upward.
With the menswear collections finally playing catch-up, freaky footwear is standing on the brink of gender equality. Now, let’s see if men step up to the challenge.
