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SOLE-CRUSHING DEFEAT

Top Designer’s Shoe Launch Epically Backfires

Photos of the freaky footwear went viral for all the wrong reasons.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

PublishedApr 29, 2026, 6:23 PM EDT

UpdatedApr 29, 2026, 6:24 PM EDT

Updated Apr 29, 2026, 6:24 PM EDTPublished Apr 29, 2026, 6:23 PM EDT

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Chanel’s new luxury collection sparked online ridicule.

The high-end French fashion house unveiled its Cruise 2026/2027 collection in Biarritz, France, on Tuesday. As the models made their way down the light beige carpet runway, attention quickly shifted to their shoes—or the lack thereof.

While many models showcased fashionable vacation wear in heels and sandals, some surprised the audience by wearing shoes with two-thirds of their soles intentionally missing.

The design covered only the models’ heels, meaning the majority of their feet touched the ground—a highly disturbing prospect for many social media users. “Can’t wait to wear these on the NYC subway so that I can contract Hepatitis,” famed interior designer Sheila Bridges wrote on Instagram.

If you prefer brighter shades for your bizarro flip flops, you’re in luck: The strange shoes strutted down the runway in gold, silver, and orange in addition to classic black, each adorned with the famous Chanel logo.

The designs were tenuously held in place with thin laces, which wrapped around the models’ ankles and more closely resembled anklet jewelry bought in Venice Beach than proper sandal straps.

This collection marked creative director Matthieu Blazy’s first Cruise collection. The presentation quickly drew online criticism, with many focusing on the unconventionally minimal shoe design.

After The Cut published an Instagram photo of the footwear, many fashion enthusiasts alike expressed their dislike in the comments.

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With over 8,000 likes, the most popular comment simply reads, “DON’T p--- me off.”

“I’m not paying $800 to walk barefoot,” read the second most popular comment. Another joked, “It’s solving a problem no one had and creating three new ones, but aside from that, I hate it.”

Other commenters wondered where and in what situations the shoes could be worn, and asked someone to walk around a city in them and film the bottoms of their feet afterward.

Although cruise collections are typically designed for vacations in warmer climates, many pointed out the possible health risks of wearing the shoes on a subway and also joked that the design was “the Emperor’s new shoe” and a “recession indicator.”

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One comment, with over 2,000 likes, read “I’m sorry to have to tell you that this is not a shoe.”

Despite the shoes drawing much criticism, the clothes worn with them received considerably higher praise.

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Actress Nicole Kidman, who sat front row at the runway presentation, applauded Chanel’s new direction in an interview published the day before the collection’s debut.

“Everything is so exquisitely made and so comfortable and wearable, and yet chic,” she told Women’s Wear Daily.

It is unclear whether Kidman’s stance changed after she witnessed the year’s most divisive footwear.

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Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

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