Despite thongs being a firm wardrobe staple Down Under, the humble rubber shoe has long been reserved for beach days or quick dashes to the supermarket. But when fashion girls such as Olivia Palermo and the Olsen twins were spotted wearing flip-flops with their everyday outfits, it was clear a trend was about to be born, something cemented a few weeks later at Copenhagen fashion week where the slip-on shoe was the footwear of choice for chic Scandi attendees, such as influencer and Social Zoo co-founder Pernille Teisbaek.
Of course, it was only a matter of time before thongs would hit the runway with Dion Lee taking it upon himself to ensure an Aussie designer was one of the first (Isabel Marant and Michael Kors included thongs in their spring/summer 2018 shows last season).
The former fashion faux pas was front and centre at Dion Lee’s New York Fashion Week show, where the designer’s spring/summer 2019 collection was revealed to homegrown attendees such as Bambi Northwood-Blyth and Jess Gomes.
Though somewhat jarring at first glance, the emergence of Havaianas on the runway isn’t all that surprising considering fashion’s current obsession with ‘ugly’ shoes and throwback trends, such as Juicy Couture tracksuits in all their Paris Hilton glory and cargo pants, which have been reigning supreme already this season.
Of adding thongs to his show, Lee told marie claire that he has always been inspired by his birth country and drawn to the simplicity of classic Havaianas thongs. “The Australian lifestyle has always been a strong source of inspiration for me,” Lee said after a successful show.
“As a designer, I am always exploring complexity and construction in my collections. Working this way means that the collection always needs to be balanced with simplicity. This season that simplicity was introduced via pairing some of the looks back with Havaianas thongs in classic black and white colourways.”
If the Olsens, the Scandi style set and Dion Lee say thongs are in vogue, who are we to argue?
