Stepping into the future: Our footwear is signalling our readiness to move forward

We asked street style photographer Marc Richardson to capture the mood in Montreal this May
Collage of 3 people standing on a street, shown from the knees down, on a grey and white background. Left to right: A person wearing blue jeans and black, angular square toe boots. A person wearing tan, string-like tights, and black sneakers with tan fishnet footies over top. A person wearing light pants and pink sneakers with a mirror-finish silver midsole, heel and tip.
Photography: Marc Richardson
Yasmin Seneviratne May 17, 2023

One way to look at the most exaggerated shoes designed today is to deem them otherworldly — pairs your avatar might wear in the metaverse but not quite the real world.

A collage of three images: a woman standing in a grocery aisle wearing red boots with a big, rounded toe, a blue heeled platform boot, a pair of futuristic-looking black, heeled running shoes.
MSCHF Big Red Boots; Jimmy Choo x Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon’s Sailor Mercury boots; OJB Studio’s 3D-printed concept of a Balenciaga high-heel sneaker. Sources: MSCHF, Jimmy Choo, OJB Studio/Instagram.

So what does it mean when those fantastical, inspired-by-superhero shoes appear on the runway and make their way to the street, too?

A collage of 6 images, clockwise from top left: Lil Nas X wearing a head-to-toe silver ensemble including tall, silver platform boots; Kendall Jenner wearing a black outfit including a black cape and tall, black platform boots; black pumps with thick ankle straps; bright green Crocs clogs with alien-inspired Jibbitz; futuristic-looking purple Nikes with metallic detail; Dua Lipa wearing sunglasses, a white topper, and black tights that extend into pointed, heeled boots.
Clockwise from top left: Lil Nas X at the 2023 Met Gala; Kendall Jenner at the 2023 Met Gala; Dior 62-22 pumps; Crocs x Ron English alien-inspired clog; Nike x RTFKT wearable Web3 sneaker; Dua Lipa in Balenciaga pantaleggings. Sources: Getty Images, Dior, Crocs, Nike.

Look at it as a readying for an alternate future, or any future, which is always being created in the present.

A person shown from the knees down, walking on the street wearing yellow shoes accented with red and black, that have individual toe pockets.
A person shown from the thighs down, walking on the street wearing white Crocs clogs with Jibbitz.
A person shown from the knees down, walking outside down stone steps, wearing chunky, wavy white sneakers with black inset details and black laces.
A person shown from the knees down, walking on the street wearing black pants and futuristic-looking black sneakers with an angular profile and chunky soles.
A person shown from the thighs down, walking on the street wearing white pants and red shoes with gold metal ankle detail.
A photo of a person from the knees down,sitting on a brick wall, wearing white socks and white leather sneakers with chunky, black and white checkered soles.
Photography: Marc Richardson

Street style is telling of both our current mood and our aspirations. So here’s your reminder to look down. There’s no better time than spring, when we shed some of our more practical garb for the personal, to glimpse signs of both where we’re at and where we’re going.

We asked photographer Marc Richardson to capture the footwear scene on Montreal’s streets in early May.

A photo of person from the knees down, standing on the street wearing tan, string-like tights, and black sneakers with silver detail and tan fishnet footies over top.
A photo of a person from the knees down, sitting on a concrete ledge, swinging crossed legs up, holding food in a paper bag, and wearing a jean skirt and black leather heeled boots with a separate toe pocket. on the street wearing yellow shoes accented with red and black, that have individual toe pockets.
A photo of a person from the thighs down, standing on the street and wearing pink tights printed with sweets in red and green, and pink strappy shoes with bow detail at the toes and chunky wooden soles.
A photo of a person from the knees down, walking on the street, wearing brown pants and chunky, light coloured sneakers with chunky soles with dark circles on the underside.
A photo of a person from the thighs down, standing on the street wearing blue jeans and futuristic-looking black, seamless, angular square toe boots and commando soles.
A photo of a person from the knees down, standing on the street wearing light pants with side seam, and pink sneakers with matching laces and a chunky mirror-finish silver midsole, heel and tip.
Photography: Marc Richardson

Creative direction: Yasmin Seneviratne

Photography: Marc Richardson

Marc Richardson is a Montreal-based writer and photographer. His work focuses on fashion, culture and the intersection between the two. He’s spent the better part of the last decade observing and cataloguing menswear from New York and London to Florence and Paris. You can follow him on Twitter @quicklongread and Instagram @shooting.people.

Yasmin Seneviratne is a producer at CBC Life, an editor and a creative director.

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