Tabis are so over – what the mainstreaming of the split-toe shoe says about how fashion loses meaning

By Catherine Greenwood, Lecturer in Digital Marketing, University of Lancashire

The tabi shoe, a divisive style which features a cloven hoof-like split, has its origins in 15th-century Japan. In 1988, fashion designer Martin Margiela reimagined the split-toe silhouette for a high-fashion boot for his brand’s inaugural runway collection. While the style became synonymous with Margiela, because of its historic origins, it could not be legally or culturally copyrighted by a single fashion house.

In my research on luxury fashion influencers and Instagram, I examine how fashion meanings…

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