Led by Bottega Veneta, the square toe is back in a major way this season. Here, we trace the origins of the shape’s popularity.
1930s
While there are records of square-toed shoes dating back as far as those worn by Japanese getas in 300 BC, the toe shape didn’t start being fashionable until the 1930s. Square-toed shoes during this period were often chunkier and more utilitarian than they became in later years. By the 1940s, the style was mostly swapped out in favour of pointed and round-toed silhouettes.
1960s
While the beginning of the 1960s started to see a resurgence of the shape in the form of court shoe-esque designs, as worn by Jacqueline Kennedy, it wasn’t until the latter half of the era when square-toed shoes started to shine in the luxury designer sphere, with Celine, Dior, Roger Vivier and Yves Saint Laurent amongst the houses offering up their own iterations. The style was made desirable to the masses with the help of celebrities including Catherine Deneuve, who wore a Roger Vivier pair in the movie Belle de Jour.
1980s
While pointy styles continued to reign supreme during the 1980s, Maison Margiela created a now-iconic boot nodding to the shape through Martin Margiela’s interpretation of the split-toed Japanese tabi sock, the Tabi boot. Margiela drenched his models in red paint so that the unusual footprints they left behind were clearly visible on the white catwalk. The style was a true rebellion against the times.
1990s
In perfect alignment with the period’s clean, simplistic aesthetic, square-toed shoes made a major comeback. Designers such as Prada and Calvin Klein took the lead in championing the shape, while sightings of the style on hit shows Friends and Sex and the City fuelling desire from the masses. Celebrities from Kate Moss to Liv Tyler were spotted sporting the trend.
Now
It’s argued that Bottega Veneta’s new creative director Daniel Lee paved way for the trend’s major return with his accessories collection featuring square-toed mules and mesh pumps, since worn on heavy-rotation by everyone from Aimee Song to Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Emerging labels, including By Far, Cult Gaia, Christopher Esber and Studio Amelia, along with designer heavyweights such as Prada, Balenciaga and Dries Van Noten, are all backing the trend too.