Dior‘s Fall/Winter 2022 menswear show featured an unexpected guest: Birkenstock.
The humble clog got a high fashion makeover from Thibo Denis, the footwear maestro responsible for hits including Dior’s B27 sneaker and monogrammed Moon Boot.
Now, Denis makes his mark on the Tokio, a classic Birkenstock slingback with a buckled strap at the vamp.
Reinforced with a rubber toe, the updated model arrives in several fabrications, including gray felt and brown lambskin. Recalling Raf Simons‘s bedazzled Fusion sneakers, a favorite during his tenure at Dior, Denis added delicate floral embroidery to one iteration.
Buckles by Matthew Williams, introduced to Dior’s menswear lexicon by current creative director Kim Jones, are applied to the shoe’s cross-foot strap.
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Finally, the style’s tonal outsole is embossed with Dior and Birkenstock co-branding.
Despite the tentative comeback of high heels during fashion’s Spring/Summer 2022 season, Dior x Birkenstock embraces comfy shoe supremacy, a phenomenon precipitated by the pandemic.
Over the past two years, high fashion’s taste for the cork-soled mule hasn’t faded. Dior joins a slew of luxury labels to partner with Birkenstock, including Proenza Schouler, Jil Sander, and Rick Owens.
So rejoice as you slip into something more comfortable — for the meantime, it appears clogs aren’t going anywhere.
