I’m probably the furthest you can get from a barefoot runner, but I am the proud owner of a pair of Vibram FiveFingers glove shoes (in silver), which have been welded to my feet this winter.
Fortunately, I’m not alone. There’s a growing cohort of FiveFingers Fashion Girls (see: model Paloma Elsesser, rap sensation Doechii, and The Attico co-founder Gilda Ambrosio) who are embracing the fitness world’s most divisive shoe. (Nike’s split-toe Air Rift revival comes in at a close second.) As I’ve personally discovered, Vibram’s lithe yoga footwear is surprisingly versatile and—sorry—grounding. I know, I know, but hear me out. In wardrobe terms, they dial up offbeat downtown chic when paired with cashmere legwarmers and friends who work in fashion that won’t get nauseous at the sight of all those toes—friends who witnessed the Tabi (RIP), long the fashion industry’s favourite freaky shoe, fall into the jaws of ubiquity.
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The five finger spin on the ballet slipper, on the other hand, has raised the stakes—both in terms of comfort and unbridled weirdness—as we stride into a new year laden with ambitions for enhanced wellbeing (while swerving the 100 pills-per-day “Don’t Die” regime) and “Denial is a River” on repeat. Here’s the thing: as is always the case with leftfield fashion trends that appear to rise up out of nowhere, the high fashion appropriation of Vibram toe shoes is signposting a collective mood shift in real time. The feeling in the air in January 2025: why be weighed down? Why wear heels? Why not get a little weirder, a little less hung up, a little more comfortable?
Elsesser has the silver-grey VI-B ECO mesh flats, which are the chronically online second cousin of Alaïa’s viral mesh ballet shoe. Doechii demonstrates choreography on her IG Stories in toeless five finger Mary-Jane socks, and Ambrosio wears the black V-SOUL sports trainer with an ankle-grazing grey shearling coat, grey marl sweats and tube socks (it’s all very Miu Miu spring 2025).
As for me, well, I’m counting down the days until Maximilian Davis’s Pilates-infused collection hits Ferragamo stores and, in the meantime, enjoying being nimble on my feet in Vibram flats and skinny Balmain jeans, albeit in the office and at dinner, rather than on the running track.
