Gladiator Sandals, as their name implies, have been around for quite a while. Known as Caligae in the time of the Romans, this form of sandal: a leather sole with strapping across the foot, ankle and part way up the leg, have been part of the footwear scene ever since. In fact, now they are one of the most popular forms of summer footwear available.
Prada first started this modern Gladiator craze back in 2001, when their models sported various sandal styles and pleated, Gladiator style skirts. Other designers slowly picked up the trend, with names such as Kate Moss starting to wear them. Then in 2007 they went mainstream. 2008 they started to take over. This year, they are dominant.
New Look apparently sold over 100,000 pairs of Glads last year, and expect to better that this year. River Island, who weren’t sure whether Gladiators would live to see another summer season, reasoned that any tweaking that they had done in the past to flip-flops, such as fringes, beads etc. could be done just as successfully, if not more so, to Gladiator sandals. In fact this association with the flip flop may be the flip flop’s end game, being relegated to a shoe position now know as “bathroom sandals”.
There’s one very strong message throughout this. Gladiator Sandals are in. In a big way.
Please note: The source for some of the details in this post are form this great post on the Guardian’s site.
