A bizarre five-fingered shoe has become the latest summer fashion trend, despite some people saying the design makes them want to ‘throw up’.
Sport and mountaineering brand Vibram, based inAlbizzate, Italy, first released its glove-like shoes with individual toes in 2006 fora niche market: bare running enthusiasts.
Fast forward to 2025 and the unusually shaped footwear has now become highly desirable after being featured in Vogue and worn by A-listers such as Jennie Kim, Paloma Elsesser and Doechii.
Once worn by the likes of Kate Hudson, Scarlett Johansson and even Prince Harry and dubbed ‘the shoe of the summer’, influencers and fashion fans have attempted to get their hands on a pair, with some hunting online ‘for months’.
Those eager to hop on the latest fashion trend have been wearing their Vibrams like a badge of honour, showing them off on social media, in the office and evenon public transport – much to the dismay of disgusted commuters.
Fashion designer Egor Modelyer, from Moscow, who has more than 60,000 followers on TikTok, filmed himself spinning around on a chair while wearing a black version of the shoe while in the workplace.
Others have even braved stares from judgemental Londoners by wearing the eccentric glove-like shoes on the tube while running errands around the city.
Fashion advisor Emma Hope, from London, filmed herself wearing her new shoes and wrote on TikTok: ‘POV, people on the tube are laughing at your freaky toe shoes.’
Fashion designer Egor Modelyer (pictured), from Moscow, filmed himself spinning around on a chair while wearing a black version of the bizarre five-fingered shoe while in the workplace
She then captioned the clip: ‘You wouldn’t understand!!!’
But not everyone is a fan, as another social media user, Feri, filmed one woman wearing the shoes while riding on the London Underground, sharing the footage to TikTok.
She said in a voice over: ‘No, this is not acceptable on transport, oh my God they’re your toes. Oh my God, I’m going to throw up. No. Get them off.’
Fashion influencer Abby Walker filmed a videoof herself dancing around her home because she ‘finally’ managed to get her hands on a pair ofVibrams.
However, she then said one of the downsides of the peculiar footwear choice is that ‘everyone laughs at my shoes.’
This racked up several comments, with one person admitting: ‘I wear mine to the gym and everyone stares.’
Another said: ‘Not everyone understands fashion and that’s OK.’
A third wrote: ‘Don’t be sad because I keep seeing videos and I want them so bad but they are sold out.’
Lucy Mary Grace (pictured) uploaded a flip of her unboxing a pair of Vibrams ‘five-fingered’ shoes on her TikTok page
Fashion advisor Emma Hope, from London, filmed herself wearing her new shoes and wrote on TikTok: ‘POV, people on the tube are laughing at your freaky toe shoes’
Fashion enthusiast Abby appeared excited after getting her hands on the shoes after they sold out before filming herself acting sad as she said: ‘Everyone laughs at my shoes’
Many TikTokers commented their thoughts on Abby’s video, with another person saying that people ‘stare’ at the shoes when they’re at the gym
A fourth claimed: ‘Omg, I get so many compliments on mine.’
However, some have complained about the attention they’ve gotten for wearing the footwear, with one Brit claiming that you will ‘have to talk about them constantly’.
Georgia, who is also a big fan of the glove-like shoes, saidon TikTok:’At first I thought it was funny and I would voluntarily talk about them and post about them.
‘Now, every single time I wear them, I have to talk to someone about them.
‘It’s not that the novelty has worn off but sometimes I’m just in a rush or I’ve just gone to the shops and I’m picking up some things or I’m at the gym and it’s early and I’m tired and someone is like ‘”Oh my God, are your shoes comfortable?” which means they f***ing hate them.
‘Which is fine, but then I’ve almost got to give them therapy to make it okay and I’m like “Don’t worry, they’re really comfy, you should try them!”‘
One woman said on TikTok that she had been ‘hunting’ for the shoes ‘for months’ after they boom in sales
Social media user, Feri, filmed another woman wearing the shoes while riding on the Underground and expressed her disgust for the Vibrams
Prince Harry and a handful of Hollywood stars were ahead of the trend, after it was revealedthat the Duke of Sussex bought a pairwhile shopping in San Diego in 2011.
‘We couldn’t quite believe it when we saw them, but he snapped them right up,’ said a source at the time.
Scarlett Johansson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Hudson were all snappedwearing them in the early 2010s too.
Vibrams were invented in 1994 by a design student who wanted to ‘figure out a way to move around in nature better’ and are meant to replicate being barefoot.
According to the brand, ‘they have thin, flexible soles contoured to the shape of the human foot, including visible individual sections for the toes.’
The ‘shoes’ were targeted at yacht racers to maintain grip on slippery decks but were quickly taken up by runners and gym goers.
