Between Two Toes: The History of Margiela’s Cult Tabi

Margiela introduced the fashion industry to the uncanny valley in his debut. Though the uncanny valley repulsion response is usually in reference to robotics that look just a little too much like humans, Margiela induced it with a comparatively low-tech pair of shoes. Tabi look similar enough to classic boots to not be the first thing you see in an outfit, but upon closer inspection, they become the main object of fascination and demand your judgement. The colorways contribute to the confusion: a beige leather pair might look so much like fleshy, cloven hooves that they repulse you, to say nothing of the alienation you might experience—and eventually come to love—from seeing a high-shine metallic or a patterned one.

Margiela would take that tabi-painted runway and re-use it for his next show—he turned it into a waistcoat held together by brown scotch tape. This was as much a budgetary decision as a design ethos: make the familiar strange again and the strange beautiful; making the most of what you’ve got and turning it into something new. Margiela’s delight in inventive thriftiness is a big part of what made the brand so thrilling when it debuted. He explained to Bruloot that, “In the beginning there was no budget for a new form. So I had no other choice than to continue with [the tabi style] if I wanted shoes. [But] after several collections people started asking for them. And they wanted more… And they didn’t stop asking, thank God!”