As it turns 80, fashion's favourite shoe gets a new look

On Paris’ glamorous Rue Saint-Honoré, dwarfed by the vast, gleaming shopfronts of Saint Laurent, Dior and Balenciaga, there is a charming little outpost of the shoemaker Paraboot. The store is blink-and-you’ll-miss-it small, but it holds its own against the industry’s biggest fish. And it’s all thanks to one decades-old creation.

The Michael is the French brand’s flagship design, and the closest thing menswear has to an ‘it’ shoe. For the uninitiated, the Michael is a simple Derby with a flat, moccasin toe, short laces and chunky rubber sole. Not as sleek as a Chelsea boot, nor as elegant as a cap-toe Oxford. You might even call it ungainly. But for those in the know, the Michael is a fail-safe style icon and a totem of good taste. Sitting somewhere between a sneaker and a dress shoe, it marries equally easily with casual wear and tailoring, and is at once low-key and interesting.

In turn, it has become almost ubiquitous amongst the men’s style community over the past few years, with scores of collaborations, special-edition models and even copycat brands. It’s been so popular, in fact, that American GQ recently asked, ‘Is this the most important shoe in menswear right now?’

‘I’ve worn Paraboot since I was a young man,’ says David Keyte, co-founder of cult British clothing brand Universal Works. ‘I bought my first pair of Michaels 40 years ago.’

Keyte espouses the Michael’s versatility, but also appreciates the design for its post-war asceticism. ‘It was made at a time when World War Two was still fresh in the mind in Europe, [so] clothing and shoes had to suit the times; had to be versatile; had to be practical; had to be affordable; had to be utilitarian.’

‘Maybe the design came from post-war austerity, but it’s really stood the test of time,’ Keyte adds.

The Michael turned 80 this year and, as part of the celebrations, Paraboot and Universal Works have come together on a project titled ‘La Beauté Dans L’Imperfection’, which explores the nature of leather and how a piece’s flaws make it all the more special.

The collaboration has resulted in a concise clothing collection featuring graphics lifted from the Paraboot archive, and a reworking of the Michael in three colours. It features a removable leather tassel under the laces and the project’s poetic title embossed onto the side. ‘Every pair is made by hand,’ says Keyte, ‘so no two are ever identical. That’s where their soul lies.’