This little piggy went to market, and this little piggy added a toe ring to cart.
Brazilian model and influencer Lívia Nunes Marques had long wanted to tap the toe ring trend, but couldn’t find any that actually fit her toes. So, she had them custom made. “I think these little details can completely transform a look,” she says. “I love the idea of ‘put a rock on her hand,’ so I thought, why not ‘put a rock on her toes?!’” She’ll often pair them with flip-flops, enjoying the juxtaposition of rubbery straps and metal. “I love stacking more than one ring per toe.”
The toe is the décolletage du jour. While the cloven-hoofed Maison Margiela Tabi transcended from its position as cult cool girl shoe some time ago, even the less esoteric among us are testing out the toe-accentuating and toe-baring side of fashion. Flip-flops have become—almost—office appropriate, peeking out from under sleek tailored pants. The early ’00s peep-toe heel finds fans in everyone from Addison Rae to Cate Blanchett. Toe ring sandals from Khaite and Tory Burch are stomping up and down the West Village, and in London, the Vibram FiveFingers—a minimalist five-toe shoe made for hiking, weight-lifting, and training—abound. Jude the Label has found a cohort of celebrity fans from Chloë Sevigny to Tracee Ellis Ross for its freaky, sexy, outré ‘Date’ mule, with a sliver of a cut-out toe.
But it’s the toe ring, the ’90s and aughts accessory often associated with the beach, that’s less libidinal, more luxe—on the Rabanne and Burberry runways, on the feet of Rihanna. Most recently: a gold band with three diamond prongs encircled Bad Bunny’s toe on the cover of his latest single, “Alambre Púa.” Marques has plenty of others to go to toe-to-toe with too in the world of digital decoration.
Rocío Gallardo, creative director of Valencia-based handcrafted jewellery studio Simuero, was inspired to turn their bestselling rings—the Faro, Buzo, and Duna—into toe rings. The brand already had the Arena toe ring, but this expanded the collection with colourful birthstones. She and co-founder Jorge experimented: “The whole thing felt like a game, very instinctive.” When we speak, she’s wearing a bikini and three toe rings—appropriate for 25°C Spain. She never takes hers off, even with closed shoes—one is even her engagement ring. “Made by me, for me, with a diamond, worn on my toe.”
“What I love about my job is not having to keep up with trends,” says Gallardo. “I get to design what I feel is coming, without looking around too much. So when something ends up being ‘in,’ I’m never sure if it’s just a lucky coincidence or a shared wavelength with other people creating at the same time.”
“Either way, I love that they’re back. It feels spontaneous, playful, not too serious.”
Tessa Tran, CEO and creative director of Chan Luu, a jewellery label founded by her aunt in 1983, was inspired by frequent trips to India for their toe rings. The brand celebrated their latest launch with a ‘pedi party’ at a New York nail salon, where a guest stacked two of their chunkier style Caprice rings on her pinkie toe, feet encased in Jimmy Choos. While previous iterations some five years ago were dainty and delicate solitaires, Chan Luu’s new collection has gotten more maximalist, including a 14K white pearl toe ring, and a toe knuckle ensconcing crystal and emerald piece.
“Toes are definitely having a moment,” says Tran. “An openness to being playful and bold is definitely back in fashion. We’re exiting the quiet luxury era and accessories. A bold head scarf, an embellished shoe, a big toe ring are easy ways to transform an entire look.” Tran herself wears the stacked Ripple toe rings on her second left toe, and two 14K gold diamond rings on her right fourth toe. Now, she’s considering putting her diamond earring through her still-there belly piercing she got when she was in high school—because “Why not?”
View this post on Instagram
“I’m enamoured with how people wear jewellery in India,” she says. “It’s not just aesthetic, everything has meaning. Toe rings for example, are traditionally worn by Hindu women as a symbol of marital status, but are also worn for Ayurvedic health benefits. Aesthetically, I was inspired by the layers of jewellery women wear around their feet—stacks of anklets and multiple rings on one toe.”
“As someone who is a purveyor of shoes, specifically vintage shoes, I’m constantly looking for ways to accessorise my feet,” says Julia Rabinowitsch, vintage sourcer and founder of lifestyle site The Millennial Decorator, “so the arrival of the toe ring has been extremely fun to see and include within my content.” Rabinowitsch has been fielding “endless sourcing requests” for ’90s-era heels. “I’m not surprised feet accessorising has [also] come back,” she says. She’s been loving toe rings and anklets, especially from Chan Luu.
View this post on Instagram
For Paris-based Charlotte Chesnais, founder of her own eponymous jewellery brand, the trend feels both distinctly ’90s and of the moment—made for the Havaianas revival and The Row’s viral Dune flip-flop. “It’s always a question of balance,” she says, “between the choice of shoes, colour of pedicure, the amount and style of rings.” An Instagram post showed her toes adorned with her own rings—made for fingers. Would she make toe-specific styles? “Never say never.”
It’s an easy trend to dip in and out of—customisable, stackable, big to little piggy toe-traversing. And it doesn’t necessarily require buying more than what’s already in your jewellery box at home. We’re seeing them styled with beachy balloon pants and flip-flops, as much as club-ready dresses and wedges.
For Tessa Tran, toe rings are for all the modern day Carrie Bradshaws, pairing opulent toe jewels with open, The RealReal-bought Manolos. Gallardo thinks of the Simuero customer, who would benefit from some toe rings in their sartorial summer lexicon: “She’s got a sense of humour about life and doesn’t take things too seriously, especially not herself. She gets that fashion is there to have fun with, not something to overthink. No big statements, no perfect outfits. Just a lot of sun, few prejudices, and a strong urge to be outside.” The biggest statement? Book that pedicure.
This article was originally published on Vogue.com.
