You are absolutely correct, these shoes are inspired by Jika Tabi Shoes. They are from a design collaboration between Reebok and Maison Margiella (a company started by fashion designer Martin Margiella).
From a Harpers Bazzar article titled: The History of the Hero: The Margiela Tabi
[The Tabi shoe] dates back over 600 years, to 15th Century Japan. With the import of Indian cotton came the invention of the tabi sock – a split-toed creation that could be worn with thonged shoes, such as zori and geta – which, with the later addition of a rubber sole became jika-tabi, a shoe that continues to be worn by Japanese construction workers, farmers and others who work outdoors.
"My memory went back to the day we went to Tokyo for the first time, when we saw street workers in their flat cotton Tabi shoes," he says, in the 2019 documentary Martin Margiela: In His Own Words. "I thought, OK, why shouldn’t I do a soft Tabi shoe but on a high heel? And then the idea was born."
Whilst the shoes are inspired by japan, please note The following passage which does indeed sound slightly satanic:
Models trotted through Paris’ Café de la Gare in lab coats and Tabis, the soles of which had been doused in red paint so they made marks upon the makeshift, white canvas ‘runway’ (later made into a vest for the autumn/winter ‘89 show). You couldn’t ignore them, which was precisely Margiela’s intention.
"I thought the audience should notice the new footwear," he explains in the book ‘Footprint: The Track of Shoes,’ which accompanied the 2015 exhibition of the same name at MoMu Antwerp. "And what would be more evident than its footprint?"
You are absolutely correct, these shoes are inspired by Jika Tabi Shoes. They are from a design collaboration between Reebok and Maison Margiella (a company started by fashion designer Martin Margiella).
From a Harpers Bazzar article titled: The History of the Hero: The Margiela Tabi
[The Tabi shoe] dates back over 600 years, to 15th Century Japan. With the import of Indian cotton came the invention of the tabi sock – a split-toed creation that could be worn with thonged shoes, such as zori and geta – which, with the later addition of a rubber sole became jika-tabi, a shoe that continues to be worn by Japanese construction workers, farmers and others who work outdoors.
"My memory went back to the day we went to Tokyo for the first time, when we saw street workers in their flat cotton Tabi shoes," he says, in the 2019 documentary Martin Margiela: In His Own Words. "I thought, OK, why shouldn’t I do a soft Tabi shoe but on a high heel? And then the idea was born."
Please note The following passage which does indeed sound slightly satanic:
Models trotted through Paris’ Café de la Gare in lab coats and Tabis, the soles of which had been doused in red paint so they made marks upon the makeshift, white canvas ‘runway’ (later made into a vest for the autumn/winter ‘89 show). You couldn’t ignore them, which was precisely Margiela’s intention.
"I thought the audience should notice the new footwear," he explains in the book ‘Footprint: The Track of Shoes,’ which accompanied the 2015 exhibition of the same name at MoMu Antwerp. "And what would be more evident than its footprint?"