MAISON MARGIELA'S TABI (1989 - 2020)

Maison Margiela's Tabi Shoes from 1989 to 1991

 

Tabi’s roots date back to 15th century Japan, a time when the island nation began importing cotton from China. Mass production of socks was enabled, and in came the tabi sock. It was developed with divided toes to be worn with the country’s traditional thonged sandals and kimonos. As it flourished in the subsequent years, the colors of the tabi sock were soon regulated to reflect Japan’s hierarchical societal status.

Awed by Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto’s design ethos, then-young Martin Margiela came up with an idea to design an avant-garde boot named after its Japanese sock predecessor. The cloven-hoof Tabi became a defining part of Margiela’s humble beginning; his salad day creation years before his first-ever fashion show.

In the summer of 1988 at Paris’ Café de la Gare, Margiela staged his inaugural womenswear collection, the Spring/Summer 1989. It was a show bordering on art performance: Models drenched in red paint paraded with veiled faces on a catwalk made of cotton. Worn on the feet of these models were the Tabi boots rendered in cylindrical heels, leaving their blood-red footprints visible on the white catwalk.

 

Maison Margiela AW19 mens tabi boots 

 

Martin Margiela knew it was the most important footprint of his career: “I thought the audience should notice the new footwear. And what would be more evident than its footprint?” Margiela later turned this first, stained runway — covered with the steps of the models — into a waistcoat which became the opening look of his next show, held together by brown scotch tape.

Since then on, the Tabi shoe has become one of fashion’s most iconic pieces of all time. John Galliano, who assumed the creative mantle of the house in 2015, also paid homage by sending down paint-smeared versions down the Artisanal Couture Spring 2017 runway. Flash forward 20 years and now we have a tabi boot for men designed by John Galliano. We’re finally in a time where we can tackle and collectively blur harsh lines between femininity and masculinity, that and men nowadays being way more open to fashion that they’ve ever been.

 

Shop Maison Margiela Tabi's here

 

Maison Margiela SS20 Tabi Sneakers