Basic Instinct: Strip Down in Summer's Wooden Shoe

Several springs ago, Karl Lagerfeld put all the cool girls in clogs again when he had his models traipse-clunk down a straw-strewn Chanel runway in an extra-platformed version that we all went crazy for. Now that the hot clog is a wardrobe staple, the wooden heel is being reinvented again, with Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy leading the charge. The thrilling new take on spring runways (and summer streets) is architectural, sculptural and thoroughly modern. 

Mid-century architect and furniture designer Carlo Mollino inspired Tisci’s conical stilettos and their striking blend of metal and wood. As it turns out, though, when it comes to elevated feet, the natural material is hardly new. “Before the introduction of the stiletto in 1953, all heels were made out of wood,” explains Elizabeth Semmelhack, a senior curator at Toronto’s Bata Shoe Museum. “The wooden base was hidden underneath a leather or fabric covering. [With the] Givenchy shoes, the underpinning of the skeleton is being revealed” not unlike a Mollino chair with its curving limbs. Since furniture lust is the only thing that gives our fashion love a run for its money, we’re delighted to slip on artfully flattering footwear that satisfies both.