by This year you’re likely to see the latest It Shoe in the bread aisle of your local Waitrose, alongside the runways of Paris Fashion Week. Another Dad classic has gotten the high-fashion treatment: scuffed-up boat shoes. Gen Z is starting to dress like chino-clad pensioners in the Isle of Wight, as influencers and fashion editors are currently swapping their ballet flats for classic lace-up deck shoes.
When it comes to setting trends, no one can create a viral product like Miuccia Prada. His label Miu Miu was named the most powerful brand of 2023 by Lyst, and this year he is using this influence to introduce a sloppy posh boy aesthetic. Think coasting grandson with a trust fund.
On the spring catwalk, models were dressed as extras in Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, with baggy board shorts, polos layered over striped shirts and collegiate navy blazers. Central to the Miu Miu capsule are the £660 brown suede deck shoes, which look like deliberately faded patches just like the scruffy slip-ons you’ll find on front porches across the country.
“I like that the current boat shoe renaissance defies what was considered a classy footwear style for a long time,” says Julia Hobbs, acting director of European fashion features for Wales. Vogue.” He is breathing new life into the piece, and making it fun ever so little.”
I Vogue article, Hobbs has declared 2024 “the year of the boat shoe” and is following her own style advice, wearing these flats like a true prepster with striped socks and mini skirts. “The Miu Miu deck shoe is very simplified,” she says of how the brand has put its own spin on the Ivy League classic. Dupes ahoy – Mango is already on the case with a £110 pair.
A friend who earned the nickname “Boat Shoe Benny” for wearing them with suits for his office job tells me Timberlands are the best thanks to their streamlined silhouette and wide color offering. The Princess of Wales buys her deck shoes from heritage American brand Sebago, which is currently building a new Gen Z customer in a similar way to hiking brands like Tevas and North Face.
“Geographically we are changing from selling in coastal regions to big cities (London and Manchester in particular),” says Daniel Richmond, head of marketing at the Maine-based brand. “The average age is falling and the fastest growing segment is now 18-24 year olds, with female customers ranging from 22 per cent to 39 per cent.” The Dockside Portland shoe has been the brand’s best-selling style since its launch in 1970, and sales for this shoe have increased significantly by 62 percent compared to the same period last year.
Hannah Lewis, fashion director at luxury personal shopping service Threads, reiterates that this is a trend that appeals to a younger customer. “For us, it’s our Gen Z clients who are more likely to get involved in this boat shoe trend,” she explains. “Comfort-based footwear is on the rise and the top performers are dad sandals and ballet flats.”
When Jonathan Anderson, Loewe’s creative director, gets behind a trend, you know it’s going to make a big splash and he just added soup boat shoes to his Autumn/Winter 2024 menswear collection. With a wide toe and a palette Autumn colors made them great and practical for the winter months too.
In womenswear the remixed deck shoe functions more like a supple slipper, and Joel Atkin, men’s buyer at Matches, notes that his customers favor a more formal approach. “Highlighted by Prada and Loewe on the runway, boat shoes are an approachable way to access the spring 2024 trend,” he explains. “At Matches we have seen double digit growth in floor shoes since this time last year.” As well as the classic customers who will repurchase these as soon as the sole cracks, he explains that they are also attractive to “a more contemporary man, playing with the new formal way of dressing”.
Perhaps it’s no surprise then that the natural follow-up to the quiet luxury movement is dressing like you grew up sailing on your dad’s yacht. Miu Miu’s It Girl stylist Lotta Volkova may be literally styling the boat shoes with seawater rope loops, but that doesn’t mean you have to dress like you’re listening Below Deck of the Mediterranean. Unless you want to look like a public schoolboy on holiday in Salcombe, it’s safer to limit the other preppy items. Instead of a rugby shirt and chinos, pair your pumps with off-duty ensembles without Sloane Ranger energy. Hobbs suggests you “temporarily retire your Adidas Gazelles” and simply wear them as “another sneaker this summer.”
Here are these…
Leather bag, £225, Aimé Leon Dore x Timberland; faded suede, £660, Miu Miu; The Row Sailor leather loafer, £950, My Theresa
Clarks Suede boat shoes, £160, Fashion Matches
Leather boat shoes, £109.99, Mango; One croc effect leather Lug, £180, Duke & Dexter; Woolen waxed leather on the side of the docks, £140, Sebago
Suede, £650, Home; Hybrid leather loafers, £175, Russell & Bromley
Two-eye boots, £130, Timberland; Tommy Hilfiger Suede boat shoes, £110, Asos
