What in the Skechers Is This?

Did we not suffer enough when we, as a society, had to experience the wedge-sneaker trend of the 2010s? Apparently not, according to Spanx founder Sara Blakely. The billionaire founder of the shapewear brand that certainly shifted the vibe is onto her next project, Sneex, a stiletto-sneaker hybrid shoe that unfortunately … no one asked for.

omg SPANX founder Sara Blakely is launching Sneex, a comfy high-heel

"We put a man on the moon," she said. "Somebody needs to invent a comfortable high heel." pic.twitter.com/JWisBFVRdG

— Karine Hsu (@karine_hsu) August 15, 2024

Blakely teased that she’d been working on the product, which is quite literally a sneaker, with Velcro and all, shaped like a high heel, for nine years. Nine? We digress. She launched the product this week, teasing the release with a video of her husband screeching in excitement upon first seeing them. In a note on the company’s website, Blakely wrote, “Sneex are my love letter to every woman who has taken her shoes off at a party, who wears flats to work with heels in her bag, who thought her days of wearing heels were over.” The product, though, has been met with … mixed reactions, to say the least.

“Are they gonna make a version that’s cute?” writer and comedian Ashley Ray posted on X. “Velcro??? Are we toddlers?” another user asked.

are they gonna make a version that’s cute https://t.co/uN6htwQ9u6

— ashley ray????stream ice cream money (@theashleyray) August 16, 2024

Velcro??? Are we toddlers?

— Blondish is not going back (@V_G_Plus) August 16, 2024

While the product doesn’t necessarily scream “innovative” (again, it’s literally just giving sneaker), it’s worth noting this isn’t the first time a brand has slapped heels on an athletic shoe. There’s the Miu Miu pointed-toe midi heel; the Martine Rose x Nike Shox, which every editor and their mother was wearing in the city just last summer; and the Comme Des Garçons Nike heeled cleats. It would seem the only difference between Blakely’s version and the former ones are weird proportions: The Sneex have a massive toe box, a tiny heel, etc. And I must say, unlike the other shoes in the cohort above, these do not serve.