Fashion-concious men get a lift as the man-heel makes its entrance

Something is afoot in men’s fashion. So steady yourselves, because high heels for the heftier sex are making a comeback. Diminutive shoe aficionados including Karl Lagerfeld, Prince, Richard Hammond and Nicolas Sarkozy have long championed the discreet(ish) Cuban heel. Now, though, height-enhancing footwear has begun to permeate across a broader demographic. For the first time since Glam Rock peaked three decades ago, men of average height are discovering the delights of a few extra inches. Well-heeled shoes of all types, from craftily sized “status” shoes to 21st century platforms, are enjoying a new vogue.

The man-heel — or “meel” as some have termed it — is simultaneously a coming trend in several wildly different milieus. The most eye-catching examples are to be found in the semi-Goth, semi-glam society of high-fashion menswear obsessives. The natural territories for these platform-heeled pioneers include Hoxton, TopMan at Oxford Circus and various international fashion weeks. In Paris this spring, both Gareth Pugh’s and Rick Owen’s shows were attended by high-heeled male audience members. It was the same at Rodarte in New York and Pam Hogg in London. Notable man-platforms are being produced by Jean-Michel Cazabat and Owens himself. Both offer man-heels of about four inches and upwards.



This fashion-pack dalliance may well have been catalysed by Marc Jacobs, perhaps the industry’s most influential bellwether of style. Two years ago the designer let slip that he sometimes wore women’s heels to “suffer for fashion”.

Jacobs said: “If I put heels in a collection I always try them on and walk around the studios in them during the fittings, which take up to 36 hours. It raises a laugh with the team for about five minutes because they’ve seen me do it so many times. But that’s not why I do it. I do it because I want to show that I’m not some misogynist designer designing these torturous shoes for women. The heels are there as a choice and if you want to wear them all the time, some of the time or never, it’s your choice.” He added: “I don’t wear them out on the street.”