via Style.com:
It’s heartening to see shoe designers addressing the not-so-sexy issue of comfort. In Paris, I went to see shoe label Aperlaï (top shoe), whose designer, the very stylish Alessandra Lanvin, doesn’t want you to have to stow a pair of Repetto BB’s in your bag in case you can’t find a taxi. “In Paris, we walk everywhere,” said Lanvin. “You should be able to do that in your heels.” Her techniques include padding the sole where the ball of the foot rests and creating a heel that’s essentially an elongated pyramid with the top lopped off. It reads spindly but is secretly sturdy. And seeing as Lanvin produces in the same Italian factory as Alaïa and Prada, these ideas are all but guaranteed to have excellent execution.
Then there’s Korean-born designer Raphael Young, whose in-your-face fierce aesthetic (bottom shoe) would lead you to believe that the idea of a comfortable heel would be completely anathema. But Young revealed that he’ll soon unveil a patented technology that makes 110-mm shoes feel like your Nikes (this dude deserves a serious high-five). Here’s to the end of the High-Heel Hobble.
