The Quirky Elegance of “Monster Shoes”
Like a tagline from a horror film, these shoes possess a peculiar charm: they have teeth. At the January fashion showcase in Paris by the Japanese brand Doublet, models took to the runway in dress shoes with toes bent upward, resembling the gaping mouth of a hungry fish. This open cavity was lined with small metallic teeth, and the interior was a polished, tongue-red hue.
Designer Shintaro Yamamoto, who is 50 and based in Tokyo, refers to these creations as “monster shoes.” To me, they evoke the image of miniature sandworms from the movie “Beetlejuice.” Yamamoto, a creative force akin to a modern Dr. Frankenstein of footwear, is the mastermind behind some of the most boundary-pushing and amusingly inventive dress shoes of recent times.
Collaborations and Innovations
In collaboration with Comme des Garçons Homme Plus, Yamamoto has designed derbies featuring dual uppers stacked like a double-decker bus, and combat boots with toes pointing skyward at precise 90-degree angles.
- Under his personal label, Kids Love Gaite, he has crafted shoes adorned with white skeleton bones on the toe cap.
- He has also designed shoes with an extra leather piece embedded in the sole, protruding at the front like a curled tongue.
“These days, I feel liberated from traditional styles,” Yamamoto said, reflecting on his creative journey since establishing Kids Love Gaite in 2008. “I allow myself to think more freely.”
Shintaro Yamamoto at his Tokyo studio: A portrait of innovation and creative freedom. Credit: Kentaro Takahashi for The New York Times
