All products featured on Vogue are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
This week, the weather in New York City—and many surrounding regions—could only be described as one visceral word: sauna. The sweltering, humid conditions are making it virtually impossible to get dressed in a chic way. Basically, you want to wear as little as possible, and in the lightest and airiest materials, too. Can you imagine trying to sweat and squeeze your way into a pair of thick leather thigh-high boots while waiting for the 6 train? Well, call the impossible possible, because the trending shoe of the summer just so happens to be that—a pair of thigh-grazing wader boots from Saint Laurent. Yes, really.
The over-the-knee boots, dubbed the Joe boot, first debuted at the Saint Laurent fall 2025 menswear show at the beginning of the year. On the catwalk, they were all styled with sleek suits, the models’ pleated dress pants tucked into the boots to let them truly shine. (And considering they retail for a whopping $4,500, we would hope they do shine.) While they lend themselves more to fall-winter dressing, the boots have already had a surprising summer kickoff: A number of celebrities are currently rocking them—in the midst of some serious heatwaves, no less.
Serious fashion fans will recall that actor Pedro Pascal was one of the first celebrities to rock the statement shoes, when he slipped into them at The Last of Us season two premiere back in March. More recently, during the Cannes Film Festival in May, Alexander Skarsgård went viral for his saucy styling of them on the red carpet—pairing the shoes with a classic black tuxedo for evening. Of course, it’s not unusual for stars (or rather, their stylists) to pull pieces fresh off the runway, but there is something intentional and frankly, quite determined, about wanting to immediately wear a pair of toasty leather boots as the summer heat comes blazing in.
It’s not just a case of Hollywood actors going for a gimmicky red carpet photo op, either. Designer and all-around fashion enthusiast Marc Jacobs—who is always down to test-drive a wacky shoe, staggering Rick Owens platforms and all—also posted about trying on the boots via his personal Instagram page this week. “If the Joe fits…” the designer captioned the images, as he proceeded to try on the “balls deep” wader boots at home. “They eat!”
At the spring 2026 Saint Laurent menswear show in Paris today, meanwhile, a number of dapper show goers were sure to show up in the boots as well. It was like a brigade of thigh-highs, despite the weather in the City of Light currently being 87 degrees Fahrenheit. Sure, they do look pretty cool, especially when worn with more traditional tailoring. But we’re more so impressed by the commitment to the bit and willingness to sweat.
Given the current mood in fashion largely revolves around wearability and ease, Saint Laurent’s bold thigh-highs prove that, sometimes, a little off-kilter impracticality can be fun. The boots say, “don’t be shy: Go for it.” Do we dare try them out for a jaunt around steamy Manhattan this week? We’ll stick to our fun sneakers for now. But talk to us in the fall.
