The inspiration in Milan ran the gamut from David Bowie at Giuseppe Zanotti to Bruce Lee at Jimmy Choo, with chunky boots edging out sneakers. Once again, designers leveraged Italian craftsmanship with an eye on novelty and precious hides.
Giuseppe Zanotti showed Chelsea boots with Plexi heels and wedge sneakers for the men’s fall season. The heels, done in both clear and fuchsia iterations, were paired with classic English Chelsea boot uppers. Meanwhile, the sneakers, dubbed the Talon since they bear a motif like an eagle’s claw, have a hidden interior wedge. The designer said they were inspired by the late David Bowie: “He has been my idol for a long, long time, and I love a wedge heel, so I put a wedge inside so everyone can touch Mars. This is my formula.” High-top versions of the shoe are available as a special see-now-buy-now preview in Zanotti’s Milan flagship. The full lineup will drop Feb. 10. “Splitting men’s and women’s doesn’t make sense any more,” he said of the genderless movement, noting that most of his label’s styles have been created for both sexes. In fact, he credited the sneaker universe for helping advance genderless footwear. “Sneakers helped us to

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