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Fashion

by Dara Morgan

Pump Fiction: Maison Margiela’s Tabi — the Hoof That Stomped Into Legend

7 Oct 2025

Some shoes whisper chic. The Tabi clops. First unveiled in Paris in 1988, it split more than just toes — it split opinion, sparking fainting critics, cult devotion, and decades of debate about whether fashion should be beautiful, functional, or simply provocative.

Episode 4 of Pump Fiction traces the story of Maison Margiela’s Tabi: from its roots in 15th-century Japanese socks to Martin Margiela’s 1989 runway footprints, from scandalous “hoof shoes” to TikTok virality. Along the way, we meet the Belgian designer who preferred anonymity, the Italian craftsman who took the risk of making the first pair, and the generations of insiders and rebels who turned the split toe into a global cult.

Here are three things you probably did not know about the Margiela Tabi — unless you have been clopping in them since the 1980s:

  • Its roots are centuries old. The split toe was born in 15th-century Japan, where tabi socks signalled status and kept sandals in place.
  • It nearly didn't exist. Factories refused to make a cleft last — until a near-retired shoemaker said yes and changed fashion history.
  • It turns walking into performance. The split shifts how you step: subtle, deliberate, and a little theatrical every time.

Listen now

Come for the hoof jokes, stay for the manifesto hidden in a pair of boots that made sidewalks into stages.