Between Flat & Barefoot
Whatever newness comes from the ever-expanding field of flat footwear, there will always be something sleeker on the horizon. We're not talking actual barefoot shoes, mind you, but a near-endless stream of shoes that get as close as possible to exposing the dogs without actually doing so.
In that field, Magliano is top, er, dog.
Credit is always due to leaders of culture like Miu Miu and sibling label Prada but Magliano doesn't follow any template.
The Italian label, which won LVMH's 2023 Karl Lagerfeld Prize, has long treaded in super-slight shoes. Its signature Furlana Monster Mary Jane, for instance, has historically worn a barely-there Vibram sole to emphasize extant flatness.
But you can't knock Magliano for lack of innovation.
Its Fall/Winter 2025 footwear, which includes a $542 flip-flop because of course it does, encompasses sneakers and slip-ons so flat that they're basically barefoot.
The Livello Monster, a sneaker version of the aforementioned Mary Jane, the EFFE10, and the Ayrton loafer are recognizable as riffs on classic silhouettes — save, perhaps for the cycling/climbing shoe-ish EFFE10 — but by bordering on soleless, they're rendered fresh. All of the designs are satisfyingly substantive, quietly luxe with just a dash of weirdness, but their nearly non-existent soles really amp things up in a wonderfully weird way.
And so much the better.
This is all part of a bigger picture that shows a bright future for designer footwear, one in which these expensive totems also happen to be quite stylish.
Every label under the sun is still chasing trends as they are wont to do, but at least the flattened footwear that results from this follow-the-leader exercise is consistently tasteful. Still, to be merely tasteful is to blend into the crowd.
Magliano is pushing the flat shoe envelope by bravely expanding beyond simply sleek sneakers. As a result, its shoes are satisfyingly fresh. And utterly free from arch support.
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