Why were pointed shoes the sneakers of the Middle Ages? They are called 'poulaines' and their spread was a real social phenomenon

There are many depictions of medieval life that portray the nobles of the time with strange pointed shoes. In the Duchy of Burgundy, where they became famous in the first half of the '300, they were known as Poulaines, or "Polish" or "Krakow Shoes" and at some point they became so widespread throughout Europe that the King of England Edward IV imposed restrictions on their length in 1463 while the King of France, Charles V, had already prohibited their manufacture in Paris in 1368. The tip of the poulaines in fact had soon become a status symbol and its length was directly related to the wealth and prestige of the wearer. For this reason, in some cases, specimens of poulaine up to 15 centimeters long have been found – a nightmare for walking around, especially at a time when city streets were not paved.

Where do they come from?

The absurd popularity of the poulaine (also called crakows in England, from Krakow) creates interesting parallels with the modern phenomenon of sneaker culture: these shoes were also sought after for their scarcity and high cost, they presented themselves both in robust and raw versions and in more precious and refined models and, above all, they were a symbol of social status. But their memory remained alive in the collective consciousness, and the idea of pointed shoes also made its return to fashion. The two most recent cases concern Prada's Synthesis sneakers from the SS21 collection and the collaboration between Rick Owens and Converse but also the ones Loewe produced for its SS18 collection even if perhaps their most iconic use was made by Rai Kawakubo in the SS15 collection of Comme des Garcons Homme Plus. During their careers, other Japanese designers such as Yohji Yamamoto and Jun Takahashi also produced their own – a demonstration of the concept of ugly chic that has dominated the fashion world for years.