The Sandal That’s About To Be Everywhere

Christian Louboutin sells them for $650. Toteme has a calf-leather pair for $450. Danish influencer Pernille Teisbaek wears them to fashion week, and fashion writer Leandra Medine Cohen has declared them “silver-bullet solution” for stylish summer outfits.

The shoe in question? Shockingly, the thong.

Yes, the staple footwear of the Australian summer – a sandal not ordinarily mentioned in the same breath as Louboutin, or indeed, stylish summer outfits – is very much in vogue.

I am definitely not ready for this trend. I still remember moving to London in my twenties and realising – after a solid few months – that not everyone wore rubber thongs in the city like me. That in fact, wearing them into Selfridges or Liberty to go shopping on the weekend marked me out as an unsophisticated Antipodean as clearly as having the word tattooed across my forehead.

But thongs are very much in the fashion zeitgeist – having become the latest in a stream (a march?) of fugly shoes to be requisitioned by the fashion world. See: Crocs, hiking sandals. (What will they come for next? Ugg boots?)

“Thongs are this season’s version of the slide,” says stylist Lucy Wood, who pulled together this edit. “They’re modern and fashion forward.”

Although rubber thongs have their place (and Medine Cohen recently devoted an entire newsletter to Havianas), the latest crop of flip-flops tend to be more elevated – whether they’re chunky with flat-form soles or more delicate and elevated, if you’re going for more of a chic-nomad vibe.

“We’re seeing lots of beautiful leathers, mainly in neutral tones – chocolates, nude, tan and even burgundy.”

Whatever style of thong you go for, they all have a similar effect – making your outfit less dressed up and more relaxed while also achieving both comfort and style. You could probably even wear them into the middle of London if you wanted.