The Shoes That Mean Business
The working wardrobe has changed. Thankfully, so have the shoes.
There was a time when getting dressed for work involved a rather rigid set of rules: sensible heel, sensible bag, something vaguely corporate. AW26 has other ideas. The new office shoe is less about looking “professional” and more about looking like a woman who knows exactly what she’s doing.
Consider the ballet flat, now several seasons into its renaissance and showing no sign of clocking out. Le Monde Beryl makes the case for its more polished side: elegant, beautifully proportioned and particularly good peeking out beneath wide-leg tailoring. Cecilie Bahnsen, meanwhile, takes things somewhere altogether more romantic. Her sculptural, feminine shoes provide precisely the right amount of wrongness when worn with a sharp trouser or oversized blazer.
Then there’s GANNI, for days when sensible simply won’t do. A directional shoe has the useful ability to make even the most straightforward jeans-and-knit combination look intentional. Think of it as shortcut styling.
And finally, Birkenstock. Once the preserve of off-duty wardrobes, the humble clog has quietly earned its place at the office. Wear yours with a great sock, long tailored trousers and an excellent coat. The trick is not to make them smarter, but to let everything around them do the work.
The modern working woman doesn’t need a “work shoe”. She needs shoes that work. There is, crucially, a difference.
