This Is About to Be 2025's Most Controversial Shoe Trend

A collage of footwear images featuring round-toe shoes from the runways.
(Image credit: Launchmetrics Spotlight)

There's one specific shoe at the top of my wish list right now that, one year ago, I would have never considered purchasing. Up until just a few months ago, I was under the impression that heels and boots should only ever have one of three toe shapes: almond, pointed, or square. Round-toe styles didn't exist in my world, with the only exception being ballet-associated shapes. Whenever I'd see them out or at fashion events, I was always noticeably taken aback, probably because every trending shoe style in recent memory felt like their complete opposite—sharp, elongating, and pointy.

Then, Pieter Mulier debuted his F/W 24 collection for Alaïa, and in it were multiple pairs of ankle-strap pumps with mega toe cleavage and delicate round toes. Made of patent leather, the controversial heels were colored in shades of blush pink, cerulean, and regal purple, as well as classic black and white. In a moment, everything I thought I knew about round-toe shoes was swiftly ushered out my front door. All that was left was adoration—that, and a hankering for one or more pairs of the style I once adamantly swore off.

Photo from the F/W 24 Alaïa show of a dirty blonde model wearing a high-neck butter yellow fringe top with a drop-waist yellow skirt and blush pink round-toe heels.

Alaïa F/W 24

(Image credit: Launchmetrics Spotlight)

Photo from the F/W 24 Alaïa show of a brown-haired model wearing a high-neck asymmetric black dress with a gold cuff bracelet and black round-toe heels.

Alaïa F/W 24

(Image credit: Launchmetrics Spotlight)

It didn't take long for the entire fashion world to catch on. A few weeks after Alaïa's show in January 2024, when the February shows kicked off, round-toe shoes proved to be more than just a one-hit wonder. Carven's Paris show featured rounded flat boots in luxurious brown and champagne-colored satin, while Proenza Schouler featured heeled, wide-calf boots with the same smooth toe shape at its show in New York. Sportmax's F/W 24 collection, which debuted in Milan, included a bevy of round-toe, ankle-strap pumps similar to Alaïa's, but with a skinnier heel and new shades, including navy blue and red.

Midway through New York Fashion Week this season, I came face to face with a lust-worthy pair at the Neous showroom and immediately knew what I had to do. I snapped a photo and posted it to my Instagram Stories, adding a poll to find out what the general consensus was about round-toe shoes and their growing comeback. Well, 55% of the people who participated voted no to a round-toe renaissance. But they haven't seen what I've seen. That is, the 29 pairs of shoes below. Scroll down to shop round-toe shoes—the 2025 version. After seeing the offering that's set to arrive in stores next spring on the S/S 25 runways, it's crystal clear to me that, while controversial right now, round-toe shoes are in for an impressive renaissance.

A model walking in the S/S 25 Carven show during Paris Fashion Week wearing a floor-length black coat with white pants and round toe ivory shoes.

Carven S/S 25

(Image credit: Launchmetrics Spotlight)

A model walking in the S/S 25 Tory Burch show during NYFW wearing a cream blazer, gray pants, and round toe flats.

Tory Burch S/S 25

(Image credit: Launchmetrics Spotlight)

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Senior Fashion Editor

Eliza Huber is a New York City based fashion editor who specializes in trend reporting, brand discovery, and Replica Handbags . She joinedBest Knockoff Luxury Clothing in 2021 after almost four years on the fashion editorial team at Refinery29, the job she took after graduating with a marketing degree from the University of Iowa. She has since launched two monthly columns, Let's Get a Room and Ways to Wear; profiled the likes of Dakota Fanning, Diane Kruger, Katie Holmes, and Sabrina Carpenter for WWW's monthly cover features; and reported on everything from the relationship between Formula One and fashion to the top trends from fashion month, season after season. Eliza now lives on the Upper West Side and spends her free time researching F1 fashion imagery for her side Instagram accounts @thepinnacleoffashion and @f1paddockfits, running in Central Park, and scouring eBay for '90s Prada and '80s Yves Saint Laurent.