Building on the excitement established over the last eight years, I’m eagerly anticipating what renowned ballet-flat brand Tieks plans to unveil as its special, limited-edition Black Friday shoe this year. First established in 2016, the annual Black Friday shoe event begins at midnight Eastern Time on Black Friday—12 a.m. ET on Friday, November 29 this year—with the reveal of the new, special design. Once unveiled, the limited-edition shoe will be available to purchase for just four days, or until supplies run out, which usually happens between 48 and 72 hours after launching. After that, it is unlikely to ever become available again, increasing excitement—and competition—among fans as they try to snag an in-demand Tieks style to expand their personal collections with a unique piece of brand history. 

This kind of scarcity has certainly built up the hype surrounding this already elevated holiday shopping weekend. In fact, in speaking about the annual special event, Samantha Hinton, Tieks Head of Design has said, “The Black Friday shoe release has become an essential part of our creative and marketing process each year. Our team works hard to deliver something we know our fans have wished for, and something that can be a unique addition to their collection and a staple in their closets forever.” 

Now, Hinton and her team don’t have to rely on guess-work alone in order to fulfill fans’ deepest design dreams—social media and Tieks’ fan pages are already filled with loyalists’ guesses and wishes for this year’s shoe. To fuel the speculative fire, the brand will usually share some teasers online a few days before the drop, offering hints about the shoe’s theme or color. And, while there’s no new info yet for this year’s launch, we can always look to previous design drops for inspiration. 

A History of Limited Edition Releases

The first ever Black Friday shoe was Champagne Tieks, gold-hued ballet flats with a subtle shimmer just perfect for kicking off the holiday shopping season in style. Next came the Red Diamond shoe released in 2017, a shiny patent design inspired by the rare namesake gemstone, of which fewer than 30 are known to exist in the world. In 2018, the design team took inspiration from a favorite holiday treat, unveiling the shimmering metallic Raspberry Truffle Tieks, with their unique blend of deep red and chocolate brown colorways. The following years brought metallic Midnight Blue Tieks—perfectly named for a shoe that launches when the clock strikes 12—followed by Tyrian Tieks, the brand’s first-ever velvet ballet flat, named for a historical color dye that was once reserved for royalty. Building on the previous year’s luxe lineage, 2021’s Black Friday event saw the launch of Tahitian Pearl Tieks, a shimmering blue-green colorway reminiscent of the clear French Polynesian waters where oysters work to form the shoe’s namesake gems. From rare pearls to rare prints, the Tieks team pivoted in 2022, launching a Black Leopard design inspired by one of the more elusive members of the animal kingdom. Last year saw the birth of Theia Tieks, a gleaming golden design inspired by the Titan goddess of light. 

As for this year’s shoe design? For now, we don’t know much—though it is clear that, as with all previous launches, the 2024 Black Friday shoe will be finely crafted and shipped out with a special card and the brand’s famous box topper, uniquely constructed to compliment this year’s special theme. Perhaps most importantly, however, is the fact that Tieks CEO Kfir Gavrieli stands firmly behind his design team, assuring fans that, like all other brand styles, each year’s Black Friday release will “bring the Tieks community a new and unique shoe that we can all be proud of.”

Published by HOLR Magazine.