Fashion designers are embracing this ‘hideous’ new shoe trend

You might have noticed that ugly shoes are in. The uglier, the trendier, and there’s no point fighting it.

Ugly is subjective, so what you might find fine, someone else might find hideous. However, the chunky practical shoe is very much in.

Sturdy shoes have made a big comeback.

There’s less people wandering around delicate kitten heels and more people in comfortable footwear.

The shoes that used to be reserved for daggy dads are on-trend. Maybe everyone’s just over being uncomfortable, but funky and chunky is on-trend.

We’ve seen Justin Bieber prancing around in some very bizarre shoes, Addison Rae embracing a very comfortable and chunky flat, and Keith Urban wearing bizarrely oversized shoes.

This trend is ageless, genderless and it’s coming for everyone.

It’s very much taken off in Australia.

Sisters Jess and Stef Dadon are two very trendy Melbourne women who make a living selling shoes that their customers have called “ugly”.

Their brand, Twoobs, is very much comfort-focused and offers three different designs: a classic sandal, a platform, and a Mary Jane.

Each design is sturdy and comfortable, so you can go for a walk, hit the dance floor, or wander around a shopping centre carport because you can’t remember where you parked your car in complete comfort.

Jess, 32, and Stef, 36, have just opened a store in Byron Bay. It’s a very cool move to set up a store within a short radius of Chris Hemsworth.

They also aren’t shying away from the ugly label; in fact, they reckon it just means their shoes resonate with women who don’t want to dress for the male gaze.

“There is something inherently cool about dressing for yourself rather than the male gaze or anyone else on the internet, and to us the ugly trend really speaks to this,” they told news.om.au.

“Fashion isn’t black and white, an item isn’t ugly or cool, it’s how you style it, and how you feel in it, what context it’s in.”

The sisters are often inspired by shoes that aren’t exactly what Sonia Kruger would wear on The Logies red-carpet.

“We’ve actually got a new product coming out soon that we based off a style we saw men wearing at the airport. On a plane paired with plain board shorts, the shoes could be perceived as a bit ugly, but in the right context, the same pair of shoes becomes very cool.”

The sisters explained they weren’t aiming for ugly when they started designing their shoes.

“We actually designed them based off kid’s shoes, because we noticed how comfort and style was prioritized when creating kids product, whereas for adult women comfort was very rarely taken into consideration,” they said.

“We’ve never shied away from comments about ugly though, if anything we’ve taken it as a compliment, and it always makes us laugh.”

However, Jess and Stef said their customer base just isn’t Gen Zers who like wearing ugly shoes.

“If you’re in Gen Z you might wear them because ugly is trending, if you’re a millennial, you might wear them because they’re environmentally-focused, and if you’re in Gen X or a Boomer you might wear them because they’re comfy.”