One bright spring day in Paris, the man who would years later become my husband and I walked over a stone bridge onto the Ile St Louis to meet a distant cousin of his grandmother.

Benevolent, the latest work from playwright Sophie McIntosh (Macbitches), tells the story of four young women at Inwood’s Benevolent Home—a reformatory house for fallen and friendless girls—in 1917.

It was perhaps unsurprising that, during a sweltering summer, everyone seemed to develop an allergy to closed-toe shoes. New York, London, Milan, Paris…everywhere you looked, there were feet. That said, even the most committed flip-flop, satin mule, or mesh ballet flat wearer must admit there’s little fun in feeling the heat of the pavement underfoot, no matter how freeing the breeze between your toes.

Summer 2026 felt like we had finally, in one collective sartorial spirit, untangled ourselves from the web of quiet luxury: