Fashion’s beloved hoof-toed Margiela Tabi boots intimidated me for years. Then I wore them for a week straight.

“The idea was about mixing two different worlds: the more minimalist side of Margiela with the seductive, feminine curves of Louboutin. We wanted to feminize the Tabi, but not in an obvious sense.

You would be hard-pressed to find a shoe as controversial as the Margiela Tabi. When the cleft-toed shoe first emerged in ...