Christopher Briney leaned into statement hardware in Paris on Wednesday, arriving with Lola Tung for Prime Video’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty” Season Three photocall at the Shangri-La Hotel. His tailored black look finished on a strong note: black leather ankle boots set on block soles, punctuated by squared toes wrapped in polished gold caps.

The silhouette read sleek and minimal from the side, but the squared toe and metallic finish brought a flash of toughness. Rather than functioning as utilitarian reinforcement, the toe caps worked as an intentional styling choice, lending the boots a subtle Western accent without straying into cowboy pastiche.

And Briney is not alone in this shift toward fashion-forward boot silhouettes. This summer, John Fluevog marked his brand’s 55th anniversary with a Jack White collaboration built on croc embossing and triple-strap hardware. At Cannes in May, Alexander Skarsgård made Saint Laurent’s thigh-high fetish boots a black-tie proposition. Both moments emphasized how designers are treating boots as canvases for experimentation rather than background players.

Briney’s version was pared back by comparison, but no less pointed. The smooth sole and ankle height tempered the proportions, allowing the gold detail to carry the look. Against wide-cut tailoring, the squared toe read exaggerated but deliberate — a flash of ornament in an otherwise minimal frame.

For an actor best known as Conrad Fisher, the choice signals a willingness to play in that space. Metal-capped toes have been surfacing across luxury collections in recent seasons, from Celine’s Conique boots to Louis Vuitton’s plated derbies. Briney’s Paris turn shows how that detail translates off the runway: not utilitarian, not costume, just a sharp new line in men’s formal footwear.

Season Three of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” brought Belly into college and back into the middle of the Jeremiah-Conrad triangle, with Briney’s character returning as the first love she can’t quite shake.