by It’s been a strange two years for high fashion footwear.
Of course, shoes have always been a space where designers get a little more creative: in the 1930s, Salvatore Ferragamo released a pair of sky-high wedges that appeared to be made with rainbow plasticine, the 2000s had Lady’s favorite Alien shoes Gaga, courtesy of Alexander McQueen, and we hadn’t even reached the peak of Crocs’ popularity before we got the heeled versions from Balenciaga.
But 2020 onwards has peaked at extra footwear as brands scramble to make a dent in TikTok and Instagram. Christian Cowan, the Central Saint Martins graduate who is rumored to be dating Sam Smith, is the latest to attempt a viral moment.
Cowan announced a collaboration with Teletubbies, the 90s children’s television show that stopped airing in 2001. The collaboration includes a series of Teletubbies-themed garments: graphic tees decorated with images of models posing with Tinky Winky , denim jackets featuring a Po photo shoot on the back, a pair of denim jeans with Dipsy superimposed on the legs.
And the piece de resistance: a pair of £2,000 slime-green boots that bleed into a Teletubbies toy at calf height. Okay, you probably have some questions.
Is that surprising of Cowan? Not entirely. She recently partnered with potato chip brand Doritos to create a triangle runway collection in support of Doritos’ sponsorship of Super Bowl 2023.
Discussing the reasoning behind the Teletubbies collection, Cowan wrote on Instagram: “When we decided what our next collaboration would be, we were throwing out a lot of pop culture icons, and then it hit us, we make THE icons.
“We’ve treated Dipsy, Laa-Laa, Po & Tinkey-Winkey like the legends they are, shot Avedon-style, these garments tell the story of our four legendary characters, who came to stomp everyone and autographed these pieces for their adoring fans”.
Your next question, then, is likely: who would pay £2,000 for Teletubbies boots? More people than you think. Before Teletubbies boots, the most recent viral shoe was MSCHF’s Big Red Boots, which took over Twitter, TikTok and Instagram just a few weeks ago.
They sold out almost immediately. Sure, they retailed for $350 (so about £287), not £2,000, but the boots are now listed on the StockX resale site for £1,082.00 to £1,375.00. Phew.
Cowan’s website crashed as soon as the Teletubbies collection was released – it looks like more people will be picking up those Teletubbies boots than you might reasonably expect.
