7 Oct 2025
Some shoes whisper chic. The Tabi clops. First unveiled in Paris in 1988, it split more than just toes — it split opinion, sparking fainting critics, cult devotion, and decades of debate about whether fashion should be beautiful, functional, or simply provocative.
Episode 4 of Pump Fiction traces the story of Maison Margiela’s Tabi: from its roots in 15th-century Japanese socks to Martin Margiela’s 1989 runway footprints, from scandalous “hoof shoes” to TikTok virality. Along the way, we meet the Belgian designer who preferred anonymity, the Italian craftsman who took the risk of making the first pair, and the generations of insiders and rebels who turned the split toe into a global cult.
Here are three things you probably did not know about the Margiela Tabi — unless you have been clopping in them since the 1980s:
- Its roots are centuries old.
- It nearly didn't exist.
- It turns walking into performance.
Listen now
Come for the hoof jokes, stay for the manifesto hidden in a pair of boots that made sidewalks into stages.
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