Many of us like to think that we would jump at the chance to glimpse into our future. It’s how tarot card readers make a living. It’s why we have weather forecasters. We trace our steps through history, predict trends, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. But ultimately, we stumble upon our limits. We face the ultimate paradox: seeking certainty in a reality that is inherently unprecedented.

So, if you received an invitation to step into the unknown, with a hand reaching out to lead the way, would you take it?

It’s an age-old question that begins as a philosophical one, but under Grounds’ influence becomes something more visionary— one that the designers answer by taking us to the future, rather than leaving us to imagine it.

At the American Church in Paris, that imagined reality takes shape. The Japanese footwear brand presents its Spring/Summer 2027 collection through gravity-defying outsoles and designs that look less like shoes than sculptural masterpieces, drawing us into a world entirely of its own design.

The company is, for lack of a better term, grounded in avant-garde ideas and Japanese subcultures, and nowhere is this more apparent than in their shoes. Moonshoes, enclosed flip-flops, and archaic dinosaur claws reimagined as functional ballet flats all demonstrate Grounds’ ability to fuse familiar forms into something entirely new and almost otherworldly.

While Grounds specialises solely in footwear, the clothes on the runway are far from an afterthought. An astronaut-like monochromatic grey look, a bubble-snow jacket, and cloaks so oversized they could double as sleeping bags build a world of layers, raw edges and unexpected structure. Soft silks and elegant pleats sit alongside gritty, unhemmed finishes— a tension between the delicate and the utilitarian, the familiar and the surreal.

And so, you are left with the feeling that the models have travelled back from a dystopian point in time.There is a stoicism to them, a collective eeriness that follows them down the runway. With bread tucked into handbags and bananas strapped to their shoulder pads, the traces of a treacherous journey are everywhere. They’ve been somewhere we haven’t, and they’ve come back to tell the story.

Perhaps this is our great escape, or the models’ grand return. Either way, Grounds take us along, if only for an afternoon.