Fashion houses are pushing the boundaries with unconventional footwear and attire, exemplified by Yves Saint Laurent’s transparent lace-up Oxfords worn by Alexander Skarsgård at a London film event. The shoes, part of the Spring 2027 men’s collection, have sparked debates about practicality and aesthetics online. This trend reflects fashion brands’ strategy to generate buzz through controversial designs rather than functional wear, aiming for global coverage and social media traction.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-13,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Let’s start with feet because, thanks to house of Yves Saint Laurent, there is now no avoiding them.
asserted
’s → let → them
At a recent London film event, Alexander Skarsgård stepped onto the red carpet for a screening of his new film Wicker in a metallic gold Saint Laurent suit, no shirt, and a pair of completely transparent lace-up Oxfords.
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Skarsgård → step → Oxfords
I have spent a long time around shoes.
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I → spend → shoes
And I can say with some authority that these are hideous.
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these → say → authority
They come from the YSL Spring 2027 men’s collection and – this is the bit I love – they’ve been named the O.Fan.
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they → come → collection
The label’s shoe designer says the idea grew out of a joke about why men are so scared to show their feet.
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men → say → feet
Having seen a great many men’s feet, I’d suggest the fear isn’t entirely misplaced.
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fear → see → feet
The online reaction went straight to the practical questions.
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reaction → go → questions
It’s a shoe that is essentially cos-playing a greenhouse or a terrarium.
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that → ’ → greenhouse
He has been treating red carpets as performance art for a while now – thigh-high leather boots at Cannes, studded flip-flops in the Utah snow at the Sundance Film Festival.
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He → treat → Festival
He commits, he’s good-humoured, and he could wear a hessian sack and still look like a Viking on vacay.
uncertain
he → commit → vacay
You see, fashion will never say out loud that these pieces aren’t designed to be worn.
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pieces → see → ?
They’re not even really designed to be sold.
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They → design → ?
They’re designed to be photographed, screenshot, sent to the group chat with three crying-laughing emojis and written about.
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They → design → emojis
That’s the business model.
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That → ’ → ?
A pair of see-through shoes costs a luxury house a few metres of plastic and one well-placed celebrity.
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pair → see → plastic
In return, the brand name gets global coverage, millions of impressions and its name in every fashion feed on the planet for a week.
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name → get → week
Love it, hate it, mock it, you’ve still said the name.
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you → love → name
If the clear Oxfords were a one-off, I’d let it go.
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it → let → ?
But it’s a pattern, and it has been building for years.
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it → ’ → years
Margaret Qualley wore Chanel’s new “barefoot” heel to a London premiere.
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Qualley → wear → premiere
Just the heel – a little capped block tied on with a few ribbons, while the rest of the foot was bare on the red carpet.
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rest → tie → carpet
It’s like Chanel tried to reinvent the thong, just minus the useful bit.
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Chanel → ’ → thong
Then there was this recent Paris Fashion Week treat, where Antwerp-born designer Julie Kegels sent out a model in nude tights that had simply given up.
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that → be → tights
Gold lace jacket, mint top, matching mint heels, all very pretty but from the waist down, a pair of hose sagging at the crotch as if they’d been pulled on in the dark and in a hurry.
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they → match → hurry
Online, the verdict came fast: ridiculous.
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verdict → come → ?
I’ve spent years trying to stop my tights doing exactly that – turns out I was ahead of the trend curve.
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I → spend → curve
Meanwhile, Balenciaga has made something of an art form of clickbait couture.
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Balenciaga → make → couture
A few years ago it sent out what looked like a black garbage bag – in leather, with a drawstring – for about $US1800 ($2580).
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what → send → US1800
I have a roll of them under the sink for considerably less.
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I → have → less
Then came the towel skirt: a bath towel, wrapped around the waist, for close to $US1000.
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skirt → come → US1000
I’ve been sporting that look for decades and nobody has offered me a cent.
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nobody → sport → cent
JW Anderson gave us a clutch shaped like a pigeon.
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Anderson → give → pigeon
Not a stylised, elegant bird but a pigeon, the kind that hangs around eyeing your sandwich.
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that → hang → sandwich
Prada sold a silver money clip shaped like an ordinary office paperclip for a couple of hundred US dollars (which at least still holds paper) while cartoonish big red boots from the art collective MSCHF looked as if they’d been borrowed from Astro Boy.
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they → sell → Boy
Every one of these followed the same script.
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one → follow → script
Strange, overpriced object appears.
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object → appear → ?
Internet melts down.
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Internet → melt → ?
Sales have slowed, prices have gone through the roof and the customer is tired.
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customer → slow → roof
If a few metres of PVC can get a fashion house talked about at a time when we’re all scrolling past everything, that’s clever marketing.
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that → get → everything
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
