The World’s Most Talked About Shoe is Back in the Spotlight—Is That Enough to Finally Make Them Cool?
A tranquil village flanked by golden poplar trees and mountainous landscapes in New Zealand’s South Island is the least likely space you’d expect to find one of the century’s most polarising trends—the Isabel Marant wedge trainers. (Or as they’re formally known, the Bekett sneakers.) Yet, it was in a small vintage boutique outside Queenstown that I found a style hunted down by Vinted warlords and Made In Chelsea cosplayers for a bargain price I’d be foolish to resist.
So, like a magpie to sequins, I flocked to the controversial shoe choice with a mission to make them my own, irrespective of the fact that they’re completely incongruous with my personal style. Then, after umming and ahhing and trying them on, my consciousness kicked in. This isn’t 2011. The harbinger of taste is no longer wearing them with a faux fur gilet and pleather leggings for a trot down King’s Road.
It might’ve been nice to part with a portion of my paycheck for the cheap thrill that a walk down memory lane could bring, but I knew that the irony and nostalgia of this purchase would be fleeting. So, I left empty-handed, with nothing but a terrible mirror selfie of me weighing up whether buying these “for the plot” would be wise or not and the memory of the experience.
What Are the Isabel Marant Wedge Trainers?
For the uninitiated, or perhaps those young enough to have avoided their reign the first time around, the Isabel Marant wedge trainers are an iconic shoe that’s part sneaker, part heel. (The original shoe hybrid, if you will.)
Standing tall with a concealed three-inch heel, this trending trainer features a chunky high-top shape, a collage of suede cut-outs along the side, a triplet of velcro straps and an exaggerated pillow-esque tongue that bulges out around the ankle. The style, which is called the Bekett, first launched into the market in 2011 and has helped cement the tomboy bohemian brand as an international sensation. (Marant has since released other iterations of the wedge trainers, including the Bobby soon afterwards and the Balskee in 2021. The latter’s launch was cemented with a splashy marketing rollout that featured a campaign starring South Sudanese-Australian model, Adut Akech.)
At the time of their release, Isabel Marant’s design was the centre of fashion controversy for being so anathema to everything the industry stood for. This was an industry built on aesthetics and beauty, yet something that even the French designer herself called “super vulgar” in a 2014 interview with The Cut was such an object of desire. What business did the shoes have being on the feet of the most prolific dressers of the decade, including off-duty supermodels like Alessandra Ambrosio and music icons like Beyoncé? (The Grammy Award winner even wore them in the music video for Love On Top.)
(Image credit: Getty Images)
When Did the Isabel Marant Wedge Trainers Become Popular?
Of course, these celebrity endorsements only helped propel both the shoe’s popularity and divisiveness. As a result, the endless stream of critiques, think pieces surrounding their success and celebrity street style sightings made them one of the most covetable silhouettes of the decade. Paired with a slouchy and oversized Balenciaga Motorcycle bag, as it was then known, a leather jacket and trousers so tight they appeared to be spray-painted on, the Isabel Marant wedge trainers became a uniform for an entire generation of fashion obsessives.
Speaking to Who What Wear UK’s acting deputy editor, Rebecca Rhys-Evans, she tells about what it was like to actually bear witness to the rise (and fall) of the trend as it happened. “I was in my late teens and early twenties throughout the 2010s, a.k.a the peak of the India Sleaze era,” she explains. “They weren’t nearly grungy enough for my (admittedly poor) taste!” she adds, noting that despite the shoe having raucous and debauched associations these days, they weren’t actually as fringe or alternative as you’d think in their heyday.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“There was once a time when, if you asked me what my least favourite item in recent fashion history is, the Marant Beckett would have been my go-to answer. But the Y2K comeback has made me embrace many of the relics of this era that I once disliked (Juicy Couture tracksuits, capri pants and cargo trousers… hello!), so I’ve since discovered I have a secret longing for these wedge shoes that once revolted me.”
Even within the Who What Wear UK office, the shoes remain a sore spot. Some are still adamantly repulsed by their very existence, while others take a more introspective look, admiring them for the way they’ve become almost meta in their embodiment of the “millennial cringe” synonymous with their time period.
As a 26-year-old who really only caught the tail end of this era, I do think there’s something to be said about the way the wedge trainers add a subversive element to any look. While they might’ve been worn in earnest originally, the instances we see today are instilled with a sense of irony. The machinations of satirising and poking fun at the past by bringing them back with a knowing grin have only made them all the more sought-after. Because I’m not wearing them seriously, but in a Kim Kardashian circa 2012 “on my Isabel Marant swag today” way.
Are Isabel Marant Wedge Trainers Still in Style?
That’s the million-dollar question: “Are Isabel Marant wedge trainers still in style?”
If you were to ask the designer herself, she’d argue with a resounding yes, especially since the eponymous creative director released a reissue of the design in 2021 in celebration of the shoe’s 20-year anniversary. (The style was even chunkier and taller and called the Balskee.)
What’s most intriguing, however, is that it’s not returning customers who are rushing to don the wedge trainers again. (They’re treading with more caution.) Instead, it’s first-time buyers and younger luxury consumers who are more tapped into this trend. Romy Mars is an 18-year-old college freshman, burgeoning pop star and actress who dominated the summer, with her singles “Ego” and “A-Lister”. She’s also a third-generation nepo baby and a scion of film and music royalty as the daughter of Sofia Coppola and Phoenix’s frontman. But while her contemporaries wear Abercrombie & Fitch, she’s stomping around in Isabel Marant’s wedge trainers.
She’s not alone in her interest. Around the same period, searches for the shoes increased by 630% and Lyst placed them within the top ten of the hottest products of the quarter between Ancient Greek Sandals’ Iro jelly flats and Prada’s Collapse re-nylon and suede sneakers.
In spite of that, their return marks a bigger shift in the industry. Appetite for wedges has been growing steadily, from Paris Georgia’s beloved Dune sandals to the graffiti cork style debuted by Chemena Kamali in her first collection of Chloé. The latter is another Parisian brand that’s also endorsing bulkier footwear, as the maison also dipped its toes into the wedge trainer category with the launch of the Kick high-top sneaker.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
These offerings also contribute to the flourishing “freaky shoe” trend, a term coined by trend forecaster, fashion writer and Substacker Mandy Lee (@oldloserinbrooklyn). Sure, Isabel Marant’s wedge trainers might’ve caused a stir back in 2011, but they have nothing on the deviant five-finger Vibram flats du jour.
But looking more broadly, it’s also plain to see that the sneaker’s return is a part of a wider industry move towards embracing the 2010s. Or more accurately, mining the latest decade that’s due as part of the vicious cycle that is the trend cycle. Now that enough time has passed, many designers are backing the revival of designs that date back to this period. From Michael Ryder at Celine with the New Luggage to Séan McGirr and Alexander McQueen’s skull scarves, fashion is bound to be repeated and lived out again in a never-ending pattern.
What’s more interesting, however, is that Isabel Marant as a brand has been slightly quiet in promoting the shoe. The return isn’t just brought on about a clever PR plan or hot reissue, though all these compounding forces have certainly set the stage for their comeback.
Where Can I Buy the Isabel Marant Wedge Trainers?
From time to time, I do wonder about what happened to the pair I found lurking in the corner of that consignment shop. I think about the future owner, the life they might lead and the things they might pair with them to make them look cool. For all I know, they could be someone blissfully unaware of the style’s background or the hatred that made them so beloved in the first place. They might’ve just bought them because they really liked what they saw and how they felt when wearing them. Fashion stalwarts might feel that knowing this context is actually what makes them attractive.
As Rhys-Evans puts it: “Those who know me know that I love an ugly or divisive shoe—can you think of a shoe that divides opinion more than these?”
Thankfully, those who are interested in owning this piece of fashion history don’t have to resort to refreshing Vestiaire Collective, trawling through the endless scroll of eBay or even travelling halfway around the world in hopes of sourcing that pair I left behind.
The frenzy to own a pair has certainly quelled, at least for now, with plenty of styles available to purchase online and in Isabel Marant boutiques. While I’d always advocate for a day perusing second-hand shops to try and find an original pair worth restoring, online retailers like Net-A-Porter, Harrods and MyTheresa are also giving shoppers the experience of unwrapping a box-fresh pair by keeping plenty in stock. So whether you’re a millennial yearning to relive the experience of opening your first pair of Beketts or a Gen Z looking for a shortcut to owning them and being a cut above the rest, you can trust you’re putting your best—or at least, most contentious—foot forward in these.
Shop the Isabel Marant Wedge Trainers
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Bekett Suede and Leather High-Top Trainers
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Suede Bekett Wedge Sneakers
Khaki and taupe hues are all the rage amid cool weather moments, making this style a great accompaniment to any autumnal outfit.
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Bekett Leather and Suede Wedge Sneakers
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Bobby Suede Wedge Sneakers
This iteration is slightly more subtle, for those who might not be brave enough (yet!) to fully embrace the trend.
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Balskee Leather and Suede High-Top Wedge Sneakers
Fortune, and fashion, favours the bold…
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Bekett Suede Wedge Sneakers
These require some bravery and aptitude to style, but I actually think they’re so chic.
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Balskee Suede High-Top Wedge Sneakers
This suede steel grey is truly one of the coolest colours of the moment.
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Balskee Leather and Suede High-Top Wedge Sneakers
Tread carefully with this pair…
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