Luxury fashion now wants to sell us barefoot walking
Less shoe, more marketing – that seems to be Chanel’s new motto. The French fashion house has even turned walking barefoot into a status symbol.
First sneaker soles got thinner, then toe shoes became mainstream. The fact that American rapper Doechii recently walked the Met Gala red carpet completely barefoot signals the start of the next phase. It’s possible the fashion industry will take the barefoot trend literally – and do away with shoes altogether. The problem is, being barefoot isn’t something you can sell. Or is it?
A shoe that’s no longer a shoe
As part of its 2026/27 Cruise Collection, Chanel presented a shoe that bears only a loose resemblance to the classic definition of the term: a leather piece with a heel that covers only the heel and is fastened over the instep with thin laces. The rest of the foot remains completely exposed. With such a dramatic fashion statement, the online comments practically write themselves. The reactions to the design range from enthusiasm to bewilderment: for some, it’s a bold, avant-garde move; for others, it’s an invite to the emergency room.
Source: Instagram @theprophetpizza
To make us think of seashells in the sand rather than shards of glass on asphalt, Chanel staged the quarter-shoe far removed from urban reality. For obvious reasons, the fashion show didn’t take place in a New York subway station, as the Métiers d’art 2026 collection did, but rather in the coastal town of Biarritz. The models strolled down a sand-coloured carpet, wearing glamorous headpieces reminiscent of swim caps, along with shell-shaped jewellery that completely covered their ears and seemed to lull them into the sound of the sea. In the background, beyond the tall windows, was the Atlantic ocean. Being barefoot might not be a selling point in and of itself, but emotions certainly are.
The dream of a never-ending vacation
Chanel made it clear – the woman who wears heel caps leads a life of leisure where functional shoes are unnecessary. She doesn’t have to worry about dirty floors because she can just put her feet up – preferably over the railing of a yacht, with a pastis spritz in her hand and the Basque breeze on her face. When she does run, it’s over grains of sand trickling through her toes or blades of grass tickling her feet. So it really doesn’t matter whether Chanel’s shoe is even a shoe anymore. What’s being marketed here isn’t a physical product, but the dream of a never-ending vacation.
Source: Launchmetrics/Spotlight
Source: Launchmetrics/Spotlight
Ironically, bare feet would probably never make it past the doors of a Chanel store without being stopped. Freedom, a connection to nature, nudity: in luxury fashion, these elements aren’t allowed to just exist, they must first be woven into an aesthetic narrative. Surrounded by fake sand, fake shells, and the sound of the ocean, Chanel’s shoe does not, in that sense, capture the actual sensation of walking barefoot, but rather a carefully crafted illusion of it. After all, performative authenticity is practically a given in the fashion world. (Sub)cultures, hobbies, and even poverty are packaged as consumer products and marketed as a lifestyle – ideally in such an exaggerated way that it both appeals to and provokes people.
Fashion as a viral spectacle
After Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel struggled for a long time to generate real excitement under Virginie Viard. With Matthieu Blazy, who has been at the creative helm for about a year, Chanel is now set to be the talk of the town once again. In this day and age, this usually means a viral post and a heated comments section. These days, a successful brand can no longer be just beautiful and inspiring. It must engage with current discourse, be ironic and self-critical, and become a social spectacle. The main thing is that people react – whether they’re baring their teeth or have hearts in their eyes.
A brand’s online presence no longer depends solely on its paying customers, but on a digital audience that engages with the content and generates perceived relevance. Anyone who thinks they understand a brand’s references and messages feels like they’re part of an inner circle, believing they see what others don’t. The exclusivity of luxury fashion is thus defined not only by ownership but also by cultural capital. When it comes to Chanel’s non-shoe, it’s no longer just about whether it’s beautiful or practical. What really matters is whether one is able to decipher the concept and the supposed irony behind it. In the spirit of «if you get it, you get it», high fashion is elevated to an art form that demands to be interpreted and understood.
Source: Instagram @micarganaraz
When even criticism becomes commercialised
«Fashion is art» was the dress code for this year’s Met Gala. The theme highlighted the close connection between the two areas – that fashion isn’t just an art form in its own right, but is also used in the fine arts to highlight and comment on social conditions. As early as the 1930s, the Swiss German artist Meret Oppenheim demonstrated with her Sugar Ring how much value depends on presentation: a cheap sugar cube, set in a golden ring, suddenly appears to be a precious gemstone, even though it could crumble or dissolve at any moment.
A similar approach can be seen today in Chanel’s heel cap. Walking barefoot, which is actually something free and ordinary, has been turned into a coveted status symbol by luxury marketing. In the process, both shoes and walking barefoot lose their original meaning. Of course, this could be seen as a subversive stroke of genius – or as a shameless money-making scheme. Ultimately, fashion shows just how absurd consumption can be – and turns that very fact into a business model. These days, even criticism of consumerism seems to come with a price tag.
Has endless love for shoulder pads, Stratocasters and sashimi, but a limited tolerance for bad impressions of her Eastern Swiss dialect.
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