A Century-Old Shoemaker Helped Balenciaga Find Its Freak Again

A line of JM Weston x Balenciaga oxfords comes dotted with silver studs and crushed heels, signaling the French fashion house can still get freaky.

When fashion houses change creative directors, all eyes dart to the clothes. There’s a logic to it. These new pants and jackets and shirts and coats form a tapestry of a new designer’s vision. But it's also helpful to cast your gaze shoe-level. (Shoegaze, if you will.)Pierpaolo Piccioli’s “recalibrating” of storied French fashion label Balenciaga has been confusing at times — see: a heavy pivot towards sportswear, including an NBA collab and Barry’s smoothie — but the man knows his way around footwear. That's especially helpful here, given that shoes like the Demna-era Triple S sneaker still define the brand. The latest and genuinely greatest sign of where Picciolo is taking Balenciaga comes via a partnership with the masterful French shoemaker J.M. Weston — the first shoe collab of the new era. The oxfords are freaky — one pair is dotted with silver studs, another smashes the nappa-leather heel in and folds down the upper like a candy wrapper. But compared to the clownish proportions Balenciaga used to peddle, Picciolo’s take is more shocking because of just how tasteful it is. That’s to be expected when you partner with a brand as storied as J.M. Weston; the shoemaker (and Highsnobiety fav) has been in the game for over a century and, crucially, can toggle between exquisitely classic silhouettes and more experimental forms, like its longstanding Sacai collab. We were already impressed by the sporty Ballet Trainer that Picciolo put out over the summer, but whereas that was a sporty flourish, the J.M. Westons prove there’s still room for a bit of freakiness at this newer, more buttoned-up Balenciaga. Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase. Want to shop the products our editors actually love? Visit our SHOPPER page and subscribe to the newsletter for recs on all things fashion, footwear, and beauty.