Sneaker hooves: how tabi are taking over sports fashion

Booties and tabi shoes have long been considered ridiculous footwear worn only by the most daring and fashionable people. However, now shoes with a split toe have become one of the most recognizable in the entire range of Maison Margiela brand. The fashion house released the first Tabi model back in 1988, and the shape itself was borrowed from a classic Japanese suit.

In the winter of this year the brand presented a collaboration with the sports brand Reebok, which immediately surprised customers around the world. Read more about the history of the tabi and which sports brands produced sneakers of this shape.

Nina Romanova

personal stylist

Tabi sneakers are certainly a stylish element, but not everyone will dare to wear them and not everyone will fit them.

The origins of the tabi

Originally, the tabi is a traditional Japanese high sock with a split thumb. The same name was given to shoes with a similar design. Japanese tabi have a soft rubberized sole and durable upper, because of which they are in demand among farmers, construction workers and other laborers. An important feature of these high boots is that they are fastened with several loops and hooks, so they fit the foot as tightly as possible.

The first tabi appeared in the 9th century in Kyoto and were intended for samurai. Local craftsmen added spikes and treads to the boots, so they protected the feet as much as possible. The world learned about tabi in the late 12th century, thanks to a traveling monk who received a tabi as a gift from the Japanese emperor.

Interested in this unusual footwear not only residents of other regions, but also ninjas, who then acted as saboteurs, spies and assassins. They liked the tabi because it allowed them to run freely, jump long distances and freely engage in wrestling. By attaching claws to the tabi, they became a weapon that allowed them to easily climb a tree, wall or rock.

Tabi in sports fashion

Recently, the tabi has been included in the Nike ISPA line and has become the most anticipated model of the Reebok x Maison Margiela collaboration. That said, until a few years ago, split-toe shoes were not associated with snicker culture or streetwear, but with intellectual fashion and primarily with the fashion house Maison Margiela.

In 1996, Nike released the first version of the tabi, the Air Rift. The hybrid of sneakers and sandals on a thick rubber sole appealed to many people, who began buying up tabi from every possible site. For two decades, Nike’s tabi remained a top seller on eBay.

In 2014, Nike relaunched the tabi, but in limited quantities. The limited edition collection of sneakers with a high cushioning sole and a plastic side tie instead of laces became a dream for every snickerhead. The production of tabi at Nike has grown into a whole line called ISPA.

Maison Margiela and Reebok Collaboration

Martin Margiela did not invent the tabi, but nevertheless became the main popularizer of this silhouette in global fashion:

“I wanted to create a shoe that supported the illusion of a bare foot standing on a massive heel.”

This winter, Maison Margiela and Reebok announced the Classic Leather Tabi sneaker, the first in a series of their collaborations for 2021. The new model combines the most recognizable molds of the two brands: the same Tabi hoof boots and Reebok Classic Leather sneakers. The shoe’s nappa leather upper is hand-painted with white paint in Bianchetto Maison Margiela’s signature technique so that the paint intentionally cracks during wear.

The obvious hit of the Maison Margiela and Reebok collaboration, which goes on sale in September, will be a hybrid model that combines the classic tabi with the Instapump Fury sneaker model. The collection features two variations of the model (on a high sole and a flatter one) in six colors, from white and black versions to multicolored variants with red and yellow inserts.

Among the big fashion brands that have been experimenting with sneakers in recent years, Maison Margiela stands apart from all others, because the most interesting and radical experiments with sports shoes often turn out to be theirs. For this reason, the opinion of many stylists about adding such sneakers to the closet diverges.

Nina Romanova

personal stylist

Here you need to be guided by inner feelings and like yourself in such sneakers. As for the duration of the trend, my personal opinion is that it is not a long-term trend, as the main trend of today is comfort and convenience, and for tabi need special socks, which are also particularly uncomfortable to wear on a regular basis.
You can add tabi sneakers to any image, as well as the usual actual sneakers: in sports style, in the image with creatively designed elements and in simpler images of casual as an accent.

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