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The Billion-Dollar Race for the Ugliest Shoes

They ain’t pretty, but boy do they sell.
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Photographer: JB Reed/Bloomberg

Americans are in love with ugly shoes.

Zara is selling weird, fur-striped sandals and stretchy laminated sneakers. Clunky black-and-white Adidas slippers are showing up on the feet of celebrities and fashion editors. Gucci designed some mystifying, ultra-shaggy slip-ons. Even Chanel tried to sell people on awkward, curvy cork wedges. It’s as if everyone’s racing to make the ugliest shoe.