Pedicure appointments are about to be harder to book than brunch at Soho House. If Paris Fashion Week SS26 is anything to go by, menswear has entered its OnlyToes era, where the hottest accessory is ten freshly exfoliated piggies. Ankles were out, toes were thriving, and footwear barely qualified as clothing. Luxury flip-flops, dainty football trainers, and what looked suspiciously like Kolhapuris with a four-figure guilt tax. The theme? Minimal effort, maximum exposure. Clothes are shrinking, sneakers are slimming, and sandals are hanging on by a single strap and pure confidence. Summer’s forecast: hot, sheer, and toe-forward.
It all began with a whisper of rubber. Auralee opened its show with wafer-thin flip-flops that looked like they had been spiritually guided in from a Tokyo sentō. Louis Vuitton followed, sending out LV-logo thongs that could have walked straight off a Bali honeymoon, except they were styled with oversized suiting and a perfectly Parisian pout. From there, it was a free-for-all. Dries Van Noten introduced loose leather slides that felt like the footwear equivalent of a lazy beach day. Lemaire offered cord-laced barefoot shoes with rustic charm. Hermès doubled down on elegance with rope-sole slip-ons that whispered “rich guy on a boat.”
Of course, part of the trend was climate-driven. Paris was a furnace. Venues were packed, the air was thick, and editors were sweating through their expensive separates. Anyone in derbies by Day Three deserved an intervention. The shift wasn’t just stylistic. It was survival. The more foot you showed, the cooler you looked and, quite literally, felt.
But not everyone was ready to abandon soles entirely. Plenty of designers found a middle ground, pairing fashion’s new breeziness with just enough cushioning to count. Pharrell’s Buttersoft sneakers for Louis Vuitton were a love letter to old-school football trainers, all low profiles and pastel hues. Jonathan Anderson’s Dior debut featured suede slip-ons that looked almost like socks.
But the biggest moment—arguably the most radical one—was when Prada sent a luxury take on the Kolhapuri chappal gliding down the runway. No name drop. No wink. Just a centuries-old Indian silhouette repackaged with glossy leather and a European price tag. Fashion Twitter lit up. Articles popped up tracing the chappal’s Maharashtrian roots. People googled “original Kolhapuri buy online.” For once, design credit was almost acknowledged, even if your local cobbler wasn't tagged. The appropriation debate aside, it was a rare moment of global style being folded back into luxury with some shred of reverence.
And the cultural ripple effect? Let’s just say the internet is pretending it’s real. Men’s pedicures are being memed into existence. Someone on Netflix claimed “clean toe aesthetic” is the next core. Grooming brands are probably already brainstorming foot creams in minimalist tubes that smell like tobacco and any other aggressive flavour of Mountain Dew.
Dior Homme SS26
SS26 didn’t just lighten the load. It offered a new way to move through heat, space, and fashion. The idea that men could wear less, care more, and still look sharp feels like a quiet revolution. From whisper-thin sandals to maximalist nostalgia trainers, this season didn’t ask you to scream for attention. It asked you to strip things back and let your ten toes do the talking.
Because the boldest thing you can wear next summer isn’t sculptural or shiny or algorithm-bait. It’s almost nothing. Just bare feet, well-moisturised, walking with quiet confidence through a world that finally learned how to breathe.
