The Tabi the Icon of Maison Margiela

Born around the 15th century in Japan, the tabi is a shoe that separates the big toes from the others, it is used to wear the It is used to wear the traditional Geta and Zori shoes which complete the style of the kimonos.

Tabi breaks the tradition of European shoes. It is also known in Japan for its virtue to stimulate a reflexology point It is also known in Japan for its virtue of stimulating a reflexology point, it is also said to make the mind clear and place the body in balance.

This slipper being a refined object, was initially appreciated by the Japanese aristocracy. It is only when economic exchanges between China and Japan were born that the tabi was democratized democratized thanks to the cotton trade, which allowed the working classes to get some.

It was in 1984 that Martin Margiela, during a trip to Japan, noticed the tabi on the feet of Japanese workers and imagined a boot that would pay tribute to this traditional ancestral shoe. At the time, no shoemaker dared to embark on such a creation, which effectively overturned the codes of the traditional Western shoe. traditional Western shoe.

It is only on October 23, 1988 that the tabi makes its appearance in Paris, during the very first eponymous fashion show of the House, in order to underline the subversive side of the tabi the soles are coated voluntarily of to underline the subversive side of the tabi, the soles are voluntarily coated with paint so that they leave their print on the podium.

Martin Margiela said that the tabi is the most important print of his career because it is recognizable, continues to exist and has never been copied. A traditional Japanese shoe that has become a fashion icon.

B.Y