The flats came out when they were needed most.
After a full day of New York Fashion Week shows and presentations that saw tropical island weather torture New York City with multiple, ear-shattering thunderstorms, monsoon downpours and thick, gelatinous air (but also an auspicious rainbow, on September 11th no less), Tory Burch‘s models breezed down the runway at the designer’s evening show at the American Museum of Natural History. They were mostly in flats.
Plenty of the show’s guests were suffering from the inclement weather hurdles, and aching, soaking, blistered feet were abundant (this writer’s included) after attempting a full day in the current trend of pointed-toe heels. (“I had a great outfit on earlier…” one editor quipped.)
It wasn’t so much a surprise that Burch showed flats during her spring ’24 collection. The designer made her name, after all, in the early 2000s with her ubiquitous logo ballet flat, one of the most recognizable women’s shoes of all time. Burch has also been playing with new varieties of the flat in recent seasons, toggling between the classic ballet shape and quirkier mule and slingback styles showcasing inventive uppers, elevated insoles and even a few curled-toe elf shoes.
Watch on FN
The appearance of flats on the runway was more a sigh of relief. After a fall ’23 season full of stilettos and pointed toes (where kitten heels with points offer only a sliver of compromise), the growing interpretation of ballet flats at New York Fashion Week offers a respite, and proof that high heels are not the only desirable shoes out there. Our feet already feel better just thinking about it.
Burch continued to put her own spin on flats for the new collection. One curious shoe seems destined to be a hit — not with the high-heel wearing crowd, but with the legions of shoe fans desperate for a flat that is still cool, and different, and worthy of a conversation. It’s for the shoe fans who love the JW Anderson mule; who snagged a pair of the Alaïa mesh flats; who still wear Birkenstocks because at the end of the day, life demands them.
Said shoe was a T-strap Mary Jane, done in glossy beige and cream leathers and what also appears to be a chocolate suede, all softened in material. It also had the unmistakable spirit of a Birkenstock Boston, with its slightly more bulbous toe (also squared, on closer inspection), side buckle and higher vamp. When models walked down the runway in them, they walked with the ease of someone shuffling at home in slippers.
The style echoes the Mary Jane trend that’s coursing through street style and fall ’23 offerings right now but executes it with more idiosyncracy. It’s less slim and petite and more foot molded. This is not your average Mary Jane.
The lineup included even more flats (and some heels, though it was noticeable that the models had a stilted walk in them). Burch continued to explore inventive ways to shift the center of gravity on a sandal, slashing leather uppers on a diagonal and adding piercing-like silver hardware. The big-toe sandal seems poised to make a comeback; Burch had those, too.
The footwear was paired with plenty of short hemlines in the collection’s ready-to-wear, following a general rule of proportions. There were retro shifts (another Tory Burch signature), sixties-like sculptural mini dresses and cropped pants that also helped to put the flats on display. As they should be.
