Why is fashion obsessed with hairy shoes atm? – Culted

It all started with Acne Studios’ shearling and hairy clogs two years ago. Then came Rick’s Porterville hairy Lunar tractor boots, McQueen’s hoof boots, Simone Rocha’s FW24 fluffy mary janes, furry shoes at Jil Sander, Roksanda, Loewe, cowhide boots at Acne – even Clarks, Paraboots, Camper and Onitsuka are bringing hairy options. Now it feels like every designer is on board the textured shoes train, and it’s giving Yeti vibes. 

It seems we’re injecting a furry layer to the weird shoe craze of the past few years, where we’ve seen sneaker hybrids by the likes of Martine Rose, Kiko Kostadinov and Junya Watanabe, Y/Project’s gothic jelly shoes, asymmetrical lacing and mismatched leather boots seen at Rick Owens’ SS25. And this fall/winter season we’re taking cosy to the max with hairy elements.

Pony hair, cowhide and Americana

Last year, the intro of the Acne Studios cowhide, Wales Bonner’s adidas FW24 drop, and a general desire of adding texture to fits, caused a pony hair bags surge on the TikTok algorithm, seen in vintage cops on Depop and Vinted. And we haven’t looked back since.  

There’s been a noticeable rise in American aesthetics in music, film and pop culture: Beyoncé, Lana Del Rey and many more artists are working on country albums, cowboy boots’ rise since 2022, ‘90s NYC hip-hop, mid-West camo. Plus cowhide: a few weeks ago @databutmakeitfashion reported that cow print had a 13% rise in popularity. Wales Bonner and Acne Studios have been leading the trend since last year and influencing the high-street markets – you know that when it trickles to the high street, it’s gone mainstream. 

Our obsession with different textures

But it’s more than pony hair and cowhide. In 2020s fashion, we’re always looking for a new, exciting texture to wear and make our entire personality. Look at Marni’s mohair sweaters of 2021, the Acne Studios scarf that oversaturated 2021-22 fashion, the rise of mesh and sheer fabrics, and furs in 2024 – we want texture, dimension and diversity of materials in our fits.

Designers want to introduce more nostalgia-influenced fabrics but also animalistic prints and textures in outerwear, trying to evolve from techy Gorpcore, sweats and hypey sportswear  – bringing volume, texture and warmth with shearling, faux furs and thick wools. Hairy shoes are just another intro to different materials. 

Innate need to look unique

Plus, we all have an innate need to look unique and want to curate our own personal style with fun, different details that stand out on the street or our FYPs. Adding a hairy shoe to your fit is a good segue into that, as you don’t have to commit to an overwhelming head-to-toe fur look.

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