An open footing

1. Open does not mean casual

Vogue Business expects flat open shoes to keep rising through SS27 and specifically points to their pairing with tailoring. Vogue Runway supplies the clearest Milan example: Ralph Lauren set silk-linen and tweed suits on fisherman sandals. The shift is not simply towards more exposed skin, but towards better construction. Broad leather straps, a closed toe, a secure heel and a slim sole make a shoe that admits air while retaining composure.

2. Why the sandal works with a men’s skirt

A skirt makes the interval between hem and foot visible. A substantial boot can close that line; a sandal lets it breathe. The hem therefore needs greater accuracy: at the centre of the knee for tailored pleats, just below it for a utility kilt, at the upper calf for a linen wrap or above the ankle for an evening length. Applying the SS27 footwear signal to men’s skirts is our editorial interpretation. It works because both pieces reveal movement without losing shape.

The sandal does not remove the look’s authority. It only removes its weight.

3. The right sandal has architecture

Not every open shoe can support tailoring. The fisherman sandal is strongest by day: its woven or caged front protects the foot and echoes the order of pleats and seams. Smooth calfskin reads formal, vegetable-tanned leather tactile and matte technical leather urban. Keep the sole flat and narrow. Large hook-and-loop panels, hiking padding and exaggerated platforms would weigh down the skirt. Black connects navy with olive; espresso belongs with sand, tobacco and ecru.

4. Four lengths, four tensions

Milan sets a knee-length charcoal pleat against ivory tailoring and espresso leather. Copenhagen combines a utility kilt finishing just below the knee with ink blue and matte black. Florence gives a sand upper-calf linen wrap a woven brown foundation. Paris carries a long black wrap into evening on an almost graphic sandal. Socks are omitted in these high-summer formulas: the visible skin is not decoration but the deliberate pause between hem and shoe.

5. Men Can: lightness is a decision

AP describes Milan SS27 through lighter silhouettes, clean lines and sartorial ventilation. This is not a rejection of formality but its adjustment to reality: hot cities, walking and clothes in motion. A man can wear a skirt and sandals without the look feeling private or improvised. Men Can means joining openness with precision. Made in Italy appears in an exact hem, controlled overlap and leather that becomes more personal with every step.