Shoe of the Week: Louis Vuitton’s Steel-Toe-Inspired Combat Boot Is Tough Enough for Any NYFW Battle

Anyone who’s walked the streets of New York knows that they aren’t for the faint of heart — and the same could be said of battling the crowds at New York Fashion Week. Which is why Louis Vuitton‘s new tough-as-nails Metropolis Ranger ankle boot is the perfect pick for FN’s Shoe of the Week as NYFW’s spring ’20 season gets going.

When the French fashion house showed its resort ’20 collection at New York’s famed TWA Flight Center (now officially open as the TWA Hotel) back in May, creative director Nicolas Ghesquière focused on the city’s Art Deco history, showing many demi-couture pieces that riffed on the architecture and design of the era, with Chrysler Building-esque embroidered bolero jackets and skirts and dresses with a similar curvature.

But the collection also included more practical elements by the way of some pretty tenacious accessories, including the Metropolis Ranger. The combat-like boot (courtesy of resident Louis Vuitton footwear designer Fabrizio Viti) is done in simple black leather with silver grommets but it also has stylized metal lace locks that give it more flash, along with a logo luggage heel tab and a new Gotham-like Louis Vuitton logo that looks like it’s straight out of a Batman comic book.

But the most grittiest, most New York part of it all? A rounded metal accent on the toe, inspired by the interior steel toe on traditional work boots — and tough enough for any city street or fashion warrior.