Press days are a funny thing – particularly, I imagine, for anyone looking in from outside of the fashion bubble. Let me set the scene: in an anonymous white cube space lined with products, a flock of editors mooch around, complimentary macaron in hand, occasionally cooing over a particularly lustworthy piece as though it’s their first-born child. It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Considering the number of press days the average fashion editor attends, it’s rare for a single brand, let alone one hero item, to dominate the conversation in any season. But Jimmy Choo’s perfect summer party shoe, it seems, is the exception to the rule. At least five editors were waxing lyrical about the Freja thong sandal – which comes in black or aqua suede – on social media following the brand’s spring/summer 2025 press day. How do I know? I was one of them.
“Personally, I love a thong sandal, and the Freja is the perfect summer go-to – elegant and effortless, but with a large dose of fun,” says Jimmy Choo’s creative director, Sandra Choi, of the inspiration behind the shoe. “The aqua suede feels like a breeze off the Amalfi coast, and the paillettes catch the light like the glistening sea.”
Stats might suggest that high heels are dead (RIP platforms) and flat shoes reign supreme, but what the numbers don’t tell you is that there remains an undeniable allure to a pretty party shoe that can make even the most practical, Birkenstock-clad fashion editor lose their mind. We might identify as dyed in the wool feminists, but perhaps on the inside we’re still that four-year-old clip-clopping round the house in Disney princess shoes. With its shimmering paillettes and elegant curved heel, Jimmy Choo’s party shoe is essentially the grown-up equivalent.
I canvassed fellow fans in the industry for their thoughts on the trending shoe.
