Fall’s Must-Have Shoe Looks a Lot Like a Rich Lady’s Necklace
What do Marc Jacobs, photographer Tyler Mitchell, art critic Antwaun Sargent, a flight of marble stairs in Italy, and seemingly everyone but you have in common?
A pair of comfortable-looking leather clogs festooned with a giant gold chain, the briskly named “Chain Loafer,” by menswear brand JW Anderson.
Combining the comfort of a classic Birkenstock clog with the frosty panache of a Park Avenue grandmother, Jonathan Anderson’s chain loafers launched in August. They retail for $640 and seem to sell out almost as quickly as they’re restocked, both on the brand’s e-commerce and sites like Ssense and Farfetch. The black leather colorway is most popular, but they’re also available in brown, gray, and various muted suedes. And Anderson has teased more from his spring 2021 womenswear collection, debuting during London Fashion Week next week. Back when they appeared at Anderson’s fall show in January, we clocked them as a hit for their whimsical combination of crunchy silhouette and bijoux. But in a period where understandably few people are shopping, this opulent, slipper-like shoe has men setting notifications and Google alerts. So covetable are they that Mitchell bought the largest pair available—one size too small!—and just rocks them with baggy pants. GQ contributor Chris Black is still on the hunt. So is André Leon Talley: “I am mad for these black slides with brassy links? Simply mad for them! I want a pair. Size 18,” he commented on a recent Marc Jacobs Instagram post.
What’s the shoe’s magic? “They are absolutely mental!” said Black, adding that they are “the Birkenstock Boston we didn’t know we needed.” I group-DM’ed Sargent and Harris for their takes too. Sargent (who adds that “first of all, I can fit mine!”) said he likes that they have “a feminine vibe but for men.” Plus: “They’re funny.” Anderson is known for his playful sensibility, and for pretty but never precious menswear—these shoes are one of his strongest statements yet in that vein.
Harris, meanwhile, replied that he wants them because all of his friends have them. “I personally desire them bc I can’t find them anywhere but on my friends feet!” So it’s a foot-fetish thing? “It’s always a foot fetish for me.”
The slide is also a witty new entrant into the canon of men dressing like chic older ladies. Blingy, chunky jewelry has long been a staple of the doyenne art collector—it was a hallmark of Phoebe Philo’s Celine, for example, which was beloved by a certain stripe of esoterically advanced woman. The Anderson shoes represent a similar mood. “On the feet, it hits diff!” Black said. While the tasteful round-toe silhouette is relatively tame, the jumbo chains are loud. “Statement shoes have always appealed to me, [and] this is the biggest statement, literally and figuratively,” Black said. They’re like a giant necklace—on your feet.
Sargent added that the bling factor makes the shoes an outfit unto themselves. “It’s a statement that you really don’t have to dress for. You wear all black and have those on your feet—it’s an outfit.” Indeed, in a parallel universe, with the pandemic better under control, they’d likely be a regular shoe on women in blousy black tuxedo trousers, and men in Issey Miyake pleated suits at art fairs and fashion shows. (Perhaps that’s a blessing in disguise for those who worry about it-shoe overexposure!)
Harris continued his reverie. “These shoes look glorious on the people who have them. The fact that they are slides as well? Little golden bows that boys are slipping into? I want to be one of those boys. They make me feel like I just might be tiny for once.” Sadly, he might have to wait: Harris’s shoe size is a 12 or 12.5, larger than the shoe runs.
The Anderson slides, perhaps more than anything, represent a novelty sorely missed on feet. “I’m traveling right now,” Harris wrote. “And I feel like I have more shoes than I’ve ever had in my life. Five pairs of them are Gucci slides. I was excited to diversify my feet.” He sent a photo of him and his boyfriend walking down the street, their feet in beautiful Gucci loafers. The horse bits looked great—being the classic icons they are. They also looked tiny.
Originally Appeared on GQ
