Antwerp MoMu sells exclusive sneakers: “Knotted around your foot like a handkerchief” (Antwerp)

The shop of the Antwerp Fashion Museum (MoMu) sells exclusive sneakers by Mikio Sakabe, a former student of the Antwerp Fashion Academy. “The foot slips into a sturdy sock, around which a cloth is tied.”

Furoshiki is a traditional Japanese wrapping technique used to wrap clothes, gifts or your lunch. You tie a handkerchief around the items, as it were. This principle is also applied to the MoMu X Grounds Hanky ​​sneakers, a new type of sneakers that are now sold in a limited edition in the Antwerp Fashion Museum.

They were invented by Mikio Sakabe, who trained at the Antwerp fashion academy between 2002 and 2006. The Japanese fashion designer has his own clothing line, but is also behind the Japanese footwear label Grounds. That brand is known for its voluminous, puffy soles. “The transparent soles of the shoes give you the feeling as if you are walking on air,” says the designer, who previously also entered into a collaboration with Walter Van Beirendonck for his shoe collections.

With the ‘Hanky’, MoMu and Grounds are launching a chunky shoe this summer that is only available on this continent in the MoMu shop and also in Japan. “The model has a transparent outsole through which you can see a printed handkerchief,” says David Flamée of MoMu. “Your foot is stuck in a sock made of neoprene, a flexible rubber that is used to make diving suits. There is a square cloth between the sock and the sole. You tie it like a handkerchief, so that your foot is artfully wrapped.” The fact that the motifs on the handkerchief are based on historical textile fragments from the study collection of the MoMu Library gives the shoe an Antwerp touch. “The sneakers look very ‘present’, but that is precisely the intention.”

The MoMu X Grounds Hanky ​​sneakers are exclusively for sale in the MoMu Shop. They cost 245 euros and are available from size 36 to 41.