Paris

Balenciaga by Nicolas Ghesquière, high heel shoe, summer 2007. Photo by Camille Vivier

by OLIVIER ZAHM

These are the ultimate radical weapons in the eternal war between lovers, between men and women, between cities and languages. They are designed for a kind woman who doesn’t yet exist, except in an enigmatic erotic zone, a no man’s land where women have finally taken over (what we used to call Power).

These shoes are criminal. They’re so high that the models couldn’t wear them at the Balenciaga show without falling down on the slippery floor. At the last minute they had to change shoes. But they are definitely the most startling, collectible fantasy shoes of the season. They’re like an hybrid combination of cowboy boots, fuck-me pumps, seventies plateforms and radical stilettos made of luxurious Indonesian snake skin, anaconda and fancy leather. Before these shoes, high heels…