Did you notice it?
In the street, it is now common to meet people in slippers or similar.
But not just any !
We see fur-lined Boston Birkenstocks, fluffy mules, Tasman model Uggs, furry Gucci slippers… And this, whatever the weather.
But why the hell would you want to step outside in slippers?
For Vincent Cocquebert, author of the recent
La Civilization du cocoon
(Éditions Arkhê), this boom in homewear worn outside is symptomatic of a “desire to be at home everywhere.
Since the confinement of 2020, a form of radicalization of this “cocoon civilization” has taken place: the economic or climatic prospects being objectively distressing, a real shrinking has taken place in homes.
It's the triumph of the cuddly toy accessory, you take your bubble everywhere”.
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Is this for all that a sign of a stylistic softening?
For Vincent Cocquebert, “the fetish of the brand means that what was perceived as carelessness becomes a mark of distinction.
In an increasingly hard world, the slipper is soft, it is the ultimate shoe of our self-care society”.
CQFD
In video, 10 tips to reconcile you with your shoes
Genealogy of the fashion slipper
In the beginning was Phoebe Philo.
When, in 2014, the English designer slipped on the catwalk a sandal-like slide decorated with fur, it was a riot.
Fashionistas flock to Birkenstocks, which then experience a big comeback in hype
(LVMH acquires the majority of the capital of the German brand in 2021, Ed)
.
This is the birth certificate of the “
ugly shoes
” trend, which will see the most improbable creations become fashion totems.
In the wake of this tap star, let's list the Princetown lined mule by Gucci, which appeared in 2015, a real unexpected hit.
Read alsoTatane, jellyfish, tap dance… How ugly shoes became the latest chic
The Birkenstock revisited by Phoebe Philo for Celine, in 2014. Imaxtree
Bruckner, slipper theorist
At the end of 2022, the essayist Pascal Bruckner protests against the “shrinking of our lives” between sofa and wifi connection, in
The Rite of Slippers
(Grasset Editions).
For him, this "sedentary tyranny", which obliges us to withdraw into the home, is quite simply a renunciation of the world: "The house, nowadays, is not a simple shelter, it has become a space in itself, cozy and connected, which supplants the globe.
Everything, or almost, can be delivered to us at home.
Why then come out of the cocoon and expose yourself?
Contemporary sadness of the Deliveroo generation?
The spa mule, totem of
self-care
Who better than Kim Kardashian to encapsulate our era?
In 2022, the billionaire influencer appeared in tap shoes, pedicure-style (Balenciaga, $450), or in toupee slippers, Yeezy (the brand of her ex-husband Kanye West).
A few years earlier, it was still her, followed closely by Justin Bieber, who launched the trend of white spa slippers worn in the street.
No doubt, the inner sphere invades the exterior.
The Dude, nonchalance
Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski, by the Cohen Brothers.
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Long before the homewear explosion, he was a man who valued comfort above all else: the hero of
The Big Lebowski
, the Coen brothers' film (1998).
Played by Jeff Bridges, this lazy king, called The Dude, only goes out in a dressing gown and tired slippers.
For him, it's an existential statement: he goes through life in his pajamas out of conviction.
A visionary.
The savate,
"
it shoe
"
of a teleworking world
In France, according to Kantar, the slipper market represents 371 million euros.
At the time of the confinements, i.e. between 2019 and 2020, it even increased by 9%.
This winter, with the rise in energy prices, we are betting on a peak in sales of lined slippers, very practical when the thermostat displays the regulation 19°C and the Zoom meeting drags on.
The story does not say whether, in addition to the turtleneck, Bruno Le Maire wears slippers at the Ministry of the Economy.
At Disney, a “glass” slipper
The Cinderella ball slipper, by Christian Louboutin.
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Glass or vair?
The controversy is known.
In the Disney cartoon, released in 1950, Cinderella wears transparent slippers that made more than one dream.
Charles Perrault's 1697 tale, taken up in many versions in regional languages of France and then by the Grimm brothers in the 19th century, speaks of slippers made of "glass" - an impractical material for dancing, but which is above all wonderful.
It was Balzac who, in his novel
Sur Catherine de Médicis
(1830), mentions “vair”, in reference to the fur of a small squirrel.
Hence the debate.
More comfort, but less fashion.
Read alsoTatane, jellyfish, tap dance… How ugly shoes became the latest chic
The charentaise, darling of Gen Z
Who would've believed that ?
The nerdiest savate in the world has finally gone hip.
In 2017, it was Gwyneth Paltrow who revealed on Goop to be a fan of this traditional slipper, born at the end of the 17th century in the region of Rochefort, and made from scrap felt used for the manufacture of military uniforms.
Long synonymous with the look of grandpa, this slipper, ideal to slip into his clogs, is now popular with Gen Z, who loves its retro cockardier look.
In 2019, it even received the IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) label, a first.
To choose your sewn-and-turned liner, it is better to buy made in La Rochefoucauld, in Charente, of course.
Traditional slippers, Jules & Jenn.
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Tap dancing, sportsmanship
In the mid-2000s, we discovered a new specimen: the swimming pool tap dance geek.
His name is Mark Zuckerberg and he will soon conquer the world.
He is the first to come out, from the edge of the 50-meter basin, the plastic version of the indoor shoe.
After him, this semi-rigid slipper will unite forever with the sock.
For better and especially for worse.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Group, in pool tap dance.
Paul Sakuma/AP/SIPA
The ballet slipper, the cool new ballerina?
After years of fashion purgatory, here is this little flat slipper again which had its heyday in the 2000s. Reviled by Gen Z, here it is rehabilitated thanks to Miu Miu who, last year, released a pink satin version with elastic on the instep – like when doing ballet, circa 1986. Huge cardboard box.
Singer Rosalía and trendsetter Bella Hadid adopted it, and the flirty slipper was the most desired model at the end of last year, with +1,100% searches by keyword, according to the fashion platform Lyst. com.
Join the dance
In images, in pictures
See the slideshow11 photos
See the slideshow11 photos