Dior's Gargantuan New Sneakers Aren't For the Faint of Foot
Dior's Spring/Summer 2025 menswear collection was business as usual but not really. As such, the fashion house's seasonal accessories look familiar but are entirely refreshed, unlike anything that ever came before.
The main event is the Dior SS25 "B35 NXXT" in what Dior footwear designer Thibo Denis calls "rapphia," which I must assume is a technical reformation of raffia, an organic fabric often woven to create warm weather bags and shoes.
What results is a giant shoe that's earthy and organic but also likely incredibly lightweight, thanks to to man-made fabrication comprising its upper and the 3D-printed-looking outsole, resplendent in its complex construction.
Dior Homme has leaned hard into chunky footwear as of late — why slow down?
But there's far more in store for the season, of course.
Like how Dior can simultaneously offer a big ol' shoe and a sleek sneak, Dior is also dishing some delightfully luxe shoes alongside its more organic hiking sneaker.
Consider these blunt leather shoes, a Kim Jones signature.
The Dior Homme creative director enjoys blowing up classic men's footwear to impressively beefy proportion, helping to ground his draping garments with real-world weight.
These kicks are no exception, cut from crocodile and cow leather, nailed for toughness and stacked atop meaty soles that add tremendous weight to an already meaty silhouette. Tough stuff.
All this textural leather complements Dior's other seasonal accessories, too.
These range from hardy leather-wrapped toolboxes (!) realized with studded iterations of guest artist Hylton Nel's illustrative critters to indulgent handbags.
Nel's ceramic creations inform some of the new Dior charms, too, like li'l Saddle Bags that dangle from their larger counterparts. Inside, Dior monogramming, of course.
One standout suede carryall sported a softer mohair knit pouch, a complementary combination of sumptuous and soft materials emphasized by gently contrasting hues — earth tones vs. calm blue hues — and made all the more approachable by easy utilitarian design.
