May We Present the "Ugly" Shoes to End All "Ugly" Shoes

Welcome to Runway Matters, where we're delivering notes straight from the runway so you can quickly digest the most important trends and noteworthy moments from the F/W 18 shows.

Leather, lace… and orthopedic-style shoes? Christopher Kane’s fall collection adhered to what fashion does best: taking elements from extreme ends of the style spectrum and fusing them into a singular statement. If we’re measuring the success of a fashion collection by its ability to subvert our long-held standards of cool, then Christopher Kane passed with flying colors. It put practical value in the seemingly un-fashion and functionality in the seemingly extravagant. In other words, the classic mixing of high and low—a fashion phenomenon as old as time.

Here’s a fun game for you: Choose the most unglamorous and quotidian object you can think of. There—it just became the next cult item. You might be asking yourself how something so unassuming lends itself so well to being transformed into the epitome of cool, and the answer just might lie in this collection’s footwear choices, which just kicked the “ugly” shoe trend into high gear. This and every notable moment from the runway, decoded here.

That’s right—you’re about to give your grandpa’s orthopedic shoes a second glance. As if sending actual Crocs down the runway last season was not enough of a risk for the designer, Kane collaborated with orthopedic shoe company Z-Coil to bring the next generation of the “ugly” shoes to life. Step aside, dad sneakers. There’s a new shoe style that’s bound to garner loads of attention (and inevitable controversy, too).

Whoever said the extravagant was overdone in fashion? The KiraKira+-friendly looks Christopher Kane showed prove that there is still a place for the whimsical on the runway (and in our hearts). From this dazzling jacket to the equally glamorous cage constructions of jewels, this collection has us embracing all things glittery. Curiously, though, the flamboyantly colorful accoutrements aren’t taking away from the clothes’ believability. They’re special, no doubt, but somehow never cross the line into over-the-top.

Dramatically rounded shoulders juxtaposed by a structured, nipped-in waist are a vague reference to ’80s-era power dressing. From the decade that’s slowly been overtaking the others in terms of relevance comes an ever-greater appeal for an exaggerated silhouette. This isn’t just boardroom-approved power suiting, to be sure. This combination of leather and camel tones is designed to show a woman’s “strength of character,” says Kane. Clothing as a form of armor indeed.