U ntil recently, a busy commuter train would be packed with people wearing low-key, unobtrusive shoes. An elegant and inoffensive pump, a sporty trainer or a polite and basic ballet flat, they were the type of shoes that said background extra rather than main character energy.

But now change is afoot. Deliberately strange designs are reaching new heights of desirability. Polarising rather than pretty, these shoes tend to be flat, a little bit orthopaedic and, according to the internet, “ugly”.

From Vibram’s glove-like FiveFingers , which punctuate each toe, to barely there mesh shoes that leave the foot looking like a boned and rolled ham at Christmas, fashion’s new favourite shoes are leaning into the ludicrous. Welcome to the new era of freaky footwear.

Vibram’s FiveFingers

“We are now at a liberating place where more people can have fun with their shoes,” says Dal Chodha, a writer and lecturer at Central Saint Martins fashion school in London.…