Nobody wants to find themselves on the back foot of fashion, but it seems Chanel has taken an unexpected step in a whole new direction.

Chanel unveiled its Cruise 2026/2027 collection yesterday with major stars, including our very own Nicole Kidman, sitting front row.

But the A-listers were quickly overshadowed by a shoe that had the sole purpose of stripping things back.

Several models walked the French runway wearing barely-there sandals featuring an imaginative design.

The heel section of the footwear features a thin platform, with straps that wrap around the ankles … and that was about it.

Toes, soles, and balls are seemingly uninvited to this shoe design.

The designer behind this whole new level of pep into your step is Matthieu Blazy.

The artistic director at Chanel has already brought much delight to fans in the past with his take on the famed cap-toe shoe.

But this new design is his boldest statement in the fashion world to date, with some online calling it a “heel cap.”

The sandal is already polarising both fashion enthusiasts and internet critics, with a post by The Cut attracting both to debate.

“DON’T piss me off,” wrote a user who wasn’t totally on board.

Another suggested: “Can someone please wear these on the NYC streets and then down into the subway and on the train? Please film feet when you get home, please.”

“Chanel really said, ‘Let them eat pavement,’” a third joked.

“Full foot frontal,” a fourth coined the look.

The collection also featured swimming caps, mermaid scales, and clothing featuring a newspaper print.

There was also a giant handbag that potentially might just fit the mental load of a mother.

Many did consider the collection overall to be groundbreaking.

“The show was exceptional; the pieces were dazzling, the design lines and colours were a world of imagination,” one user praised.

Another gushed: “There’s something almost cinematic about this cruise collection. You can feel the ghost of Coco walking those Atlantic shores, the silhouettes are so flawless and there is this effortless tension between discipline and ease she practically invented, and yet, it’s lighter and younger. I’m not exaggerating when I say I got goosebumps. Matthieu Blazy is operating on another level. Genius, honestly!”

“So classic, so modern, brilliant!” a third added.

It’s not the first time a fashion runway has had a minimal approach.

A daring look from Mugler’s Spring/Summer 2026 Paris Fashion Week also reached viral status and ignited fierce debate.

Portuguese designer Miguel Castro Freitas made his debut with a provocative catwalk show with a collection titled “Stardust Aphrodite.”

The “nipple-piercing dress” sent the internet into a tizzy with its chiffon fabric attached to the model’s pierced nipples, reinvented from a look first seen on the runway in the late ’90s.

The look was labelled “inappropriate,” “simply everything [women] stand against,” and some also accused the designer of “crossing a line” for a viral opportunity.

“Looking at Miguel’s Mugler, though, he’s clearly trying to take the brand in a more sophisticated and serious direction. So what the f**k was the topless dress doing next to structured blazers and mini dresses?” Fashion and culture commentator Pran Jallijain said at the time.

“I can tell you, the dress was a social media stunt engineered for virality. Yet again, a man using a woman’s body for shock value.”