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!)
JW Anderson's fall 2021 menswear show in Paris, January 15, 2020.
Victor Virgile / Getty ImagesHarris 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.