There are a variety of tabi socks and shoes lately.
If you like Maison Margiela’s Tabi shoes, you know that they are inspired by “tabi,” traditional Japanese split-toe socks designed to fit zori and/or geta (split-toe style sandals), which Japanese wore with kimono.
The combination of tabi and zori/geta is not suitable for running or physical works, so Japanese also use jika-tabi (tabi as shoes). Tabi’s split-toe design is ideal to increase the grip and strengthen your foot muscles. It’s still used by construction workers for example. You also see it on special occasions such as traditional matsuri (festival) that requires traditional attires.
Until Maison Margiela re-discovered it, Japanese thought tabi was strictly traditional and wouldn’t go with modern fashion. But things are slowly changing today. There are now a variety of socks and shoes that take advantage of the benefits of split-toe design.
