Spending more than a year being cooped up indoors has understandably changed the collective attitude toward shoes. With no one else other than the members of our own quarantine bubbles to serve as an audience, comfort has become of primary importance. This was reflected in the dominance of shorter heels and classic styles that offered maximum protection against the elements during fall/winter 2020.

As the world begins to gradually reopen, the reticence to go buck-wild with outrageous shoe designs remains. As seen on runways, spring/summer 2021’s offerings still generally lean on the comfortable and conservative side, perhaps to best fit the transitory period when not everything can be labeled yet as “post-pandemic.” But while house slippers will still be seeing plenty of use in the foreseeable future, the season brings with it trends that can ease us all back into the normal habit of wearing shoes on the regular.

“The pandemic has totally changed our everyday life,” affirms South Korean designer Rei Yoon Hong, who founded the international brand Reike Nen. “Since there’s [still] less of a chance for people to get together and dress up for events, we are introducing easier and more comfortable shoes this season.” Indeed, the label’s current collection features the continued reign of shorter heels that come in various iterations: dainty kitten heels, the chunkier (and more stable) block and flared ones, and flatforms.

But while there has been compromise when it comes to heel height, the season’s different styles of footwear are definitely far from staid. In fact, far from the protective and laced-up looks of the past season, spring/summer 2021 calls for more self-expression—at the very least, through an impeccable pedicure.

Straps that frame the toes and the feet and wind around the ankles abound, with the colors ranging from reliable neutrals and metallics to cheerful pastels and the more eye-catching primary hues. These are matched with angular toes—either the square one that had already made a splash in 2019, or the more severe pointed toe—resulting in looks that call to mind the sexy minimalist vibe of the late ‘90s and the early 2000s.

Celebrities that have been sporting this footwear aesthetic are Gabrielle Union-Wade in her social media OOTDs and Rihanna in her paparazzi-documented dinner outings. Model, actress, and aspiring beauty mogul Rosie Huntington-Whiteley has not only been an early proponent of this throwback style: In March, she released a collection with Italian label Gia Couture Firenze that features minimalist designs done in natural-looking textures, all featuring the trendy square toe.

Speaking of the turn of the century, the season’s trending styles bring up another crucial element: nostalgia. Past decades up until the ‘90s have long been a deep well for inspiration for the fashion industry. But as we ease into the 2020s, and with Gen Z-ers gaining more pull in popular culture, brands and designers have also been looking into the early aughts for ideas, perhaps in an effort to balance the excitement of experimentation with the comfortable familiarity of a past era.

Designer Heejin Kang says that as someone who has experienced them the first time around, she is excited about the younger generation discovering and embracing the trends of the early 2000s. She acknowledges the Zoomers’ influence on the current design direction taken by South Korean shoes and accessories label Osoi, where she also serves as CEO. “As the lifestyle has changed for many people and the proportion of people thinking of fashion to express themselves in their daily lives rather than for social life has increased, I wanted to align with that attitude as a brand.” For its “Hustle and Bustle” spring/summer 2021 collection, “most of our signature bags and shoes imply the coexistence of minimalism and uniqueness, and we are keen on keeping this as our core DNA element.” Singling out the retro feel of the collection’s vintage cork-based platform heels and use of buffalo leather, Kang describes the brand’s latest offering as “provocative but practical.”

That double-sided approach of practicality and provocation could explain the rise of shoe styles that the fashion scene had previously steered clear of for the past 10 years or so. Miu Miu’s mid-heel sneakers come to mind, with a slip-on variant even coming in a 2000-reminiscent metallic technical fabric. Dainty mules (elevated at Bottega Veneta with the brand’s signature intrecciato weave) and heeled thong sandals (such as The Row’s square-toed leather pair) are also experiencing a resurgence; see Rihanna’s picture above. Perhaps the balance and muscle control required for the feet to maintain their considerably precarious perch in these retro shoes would serve as sufficient practice for when the world is ready to don on stilettos again. Comfortable they may not all be, but to those who still bear the scars—both mental and physical—from wearing them almost 20 years ago, their resurgence is quite provocative, all right.

Writer’s note: This was a story for an international title that unfortunately got killed mid-story production, but it’s interesting to track through shoe design trends how the world at large is maneuvering through this nebulous space of still being in a pandemic but with a post-pandemic era already in sight.

Lead image is from the Reike Nen website.