Is Balenciaga On the Brink of Another Big Shoe Trend?

There are many ways in which Balenciaga has influenced fashion and pop culture (some better than others), but one of the most dependable hallmarks of creative director Demna’s tenure at the French luxury brand has been the pivotal, market-shifting footwear trend.

Now, a new series of shoes from the brand’s resort ’24 collection just might bring Balenciaga another chapter in its story of blockbuster footwear moments.

The brand debuted its resort ’24 collection on May 30 with a look book and short film, the former showcasing models in a salon with typical Parisian façades, depicting the Place Vendôme, the Arc de Triomphe and other window-scapes of the city, while the latter saw a rainy Paris sidewalk as runway in a very-Demna tableau, where models walked past each other, dropping things, forgetting their keys, getting into taxis, carrying shopping bags, all in the designer’s quest to make the quotidian into couture.

At first glance, the collection appears to be an amalgamation of the Balenciaga’s best silhouettes, from sharp-shouldered suiting and strong leather outerwear to a nearly all-black palette that hints at the recent buzz of quiet luxury (n aim of Demna’s for quite some time, despite the brand’s tendency toward logos, chunky dad shoes and Kim Kardashian campaigns).

In addition to its greatest hits meets stealth wealth messaging, a closer look at Balenciaga’s resort ’24 collection also reveals footwear that just might become the next big something. Amid motorsport-themed “pantashoes” (the brand’s name for its famed shoes that are connected to pants and tights) and signature witch heels, a handful of models wear black leather boots that feature exaggerated curled-up pointed toes (which upon even closer examination actually have a slight square at the very tip).

This isn’t the first time that Balenciaga has shown this boot. Dubbed the Santiago, the men’s leather shoe was also part of the brand’s pre-fall ’23 collection, which it debuted recently as a see-now, buy-now collection in early May (the brand typically debuts its pre-fall collections in December but held back amidst its ad campaign scandals back in late 2022).

The silhouette joins the ranks of a long list of the brand’s footwear novelties, which have included (but are not limited to) Vibram toe heels, platform Crocs, dirty ballet flats, dirty sneakers, heavy rubber clogs, extreme lace-up witch shoes and of course the signature pantashoe.

But the Santiago stands out from the runway novelties for striking a balance between wacky and actually wearable. In fact, the curled-up toe boot has already joined commercial-friendly footwear bestsellers such as the Triple-S (the chunky dad sneaker that drove the years-long trend starting in 2017), the still-popular Knife heel, puffer heels, Witch heels, Defender sneakers and bulbous derby shoes. All, including the new Santiago, are available on Balenciaga’s site now.

There are a few reasons why Balenciaga’s turned-up toe could usher in a new footwear era. Not only does the brand have the aforementioned track record of influencing silhouette shifts in the market, the boot also hints at a few already existing trends that are ripe for a pivot in 2024. Mainly, the Western boot, which is currently beloved by Swifties, L.A. influencers and the like. The boot has proven staying power as a trend, and its silhouette often includes toes that slightly point up — making Balenciaga’s version a something like a cartoonish, hyperbolic version.

And the brand isn’t the only one experimenting with strange interpretations of the Western boot. For fall ’23, Bottega Veneta presented a slew of Western-esque boots in both men’s and women’s collections, including a pair of Intrecciato woven Westerns for men. The Santiago also plays into the current men’s trend that’s bringing back the black leather dress shoe. Plenty of brands and tastemakers have swapped their sneakers for black dress shoes, even with jeans, and Balenciaga’s curled-toe is likely to promote the look either further.

Perhaps equally as important in trend land, the boot is reminiscent of some of the more unsavory silhouettes of the Y2K and early-aughts era. Think bad-date, curled-toed snakeskin men’s dress shoes, or pairs of squarish-but-pointed-toes-gone-wrong that could be seen poking out from a pair of bootleg jeans paired with going-out top. If there is one thing that Demna has always been skilled at, it’s taking the mundane, passé and even vulgar, and turning it on its head to make the silhouette attractive once more (the designer almost singlehandedly brought back the oversized macro-trend).

Another footwear moment could prove especially beneficial for Balenciaga, which appears to be in the midst of a brand rebuilding and publicity effort after its ad campaign scandal in November 2022. At the Met Gala, Demna made his first public appearance since the scandal, while plenty of stars sported the brand on the red carpets for the Cannes Film Festival. Balenciaga also released both its pre-fall ’23 and resort ’24 collections in May. A hit shoe could be just the ticket to translating the comeback buzz to sales.