Ever since the resurrection of the chunky FILA sneaker, people have been begging for a reprieve so that they could live in peace. This article, however, is not about the death of that trend — sorry to those people. While the chunky shoe trend shows no sign of dying in the near future, there are designers like Kerby Jean-Raymond, making them a bit easier to digest.
Since the beginning of the year, Kerby Jean-Raymond, founder of Pyer Moss and creative director of Reebok, has been teasing the release of his yellow-centric collection in Paris, France with a storefront collection preview and show. The bright yellow-clad store stood out amongst the rather neutral color palette of the European-style neighborhood like the sun’s glow from a sea of clouds. For months, people had been desperate for the brand to drop the shoes and, at last, the people have been gifted.
In October, Raymond released his first-ever solo shoe to not be part of a collection for his brand, Pyer Moss. The Pyer Moss website describes the shoe as bringing “ a futuristic approach in thought and gesture through its bottom proportions. The upper made of suede, mesh and Pyer Moss’ signature contrast white topstitch, connects the design to our current reality of extreme contrasts made beautiful.” Kerby said “3 years after Evan and I exchanged the initial sketches for these, they’re here. Production is a bitch. lol … Introducing the “Sculpt 1.” Our first standalone sneaker. Available October 3 at 12P EST on pyermoss.com and SSENSE.”
The shoe is a color block black and lemon yellow with a thick rubber sole making it a trendier chunky shoe. Kerby said, “We started working on this shoe in 2017. We were told it couldn’t be done for so many reasons but we persisted and here they are. The Sculpt — Pyer Moss’ first shoe.”
We got a first glimpse into what the second version of The Sculpt would be — a similar blob-style shoe with a white upper and lemon yellow rubber sole. The Sculpt redesign dropped on December 12 at $600 and is already out of stock in less than a week. So far, this appears to be the most aesthetically pleasing of the chunky shoes released by competitors such as Yeezy, Balenciaga, etc. It offers a sleek design with a pop of color and a very mod no-tie, elastic drawstring.
For those who have not caught onto the chunky shoe trend yet: The Sculpt offers hope that, with the right design in mind, they can be appealing. Hopefully, 2021 will bring us to a point where the luxury of an attractive chunky shoe can also be more affordable.