I recently spotted a woman with some amazing orthopaedic boots on Oxford Street, chunky platform creations, with a perforated leather upper. They were really rather wonderful but I thought as much as I wanted to, the woman probably wouldn’t have appreciated me taking a picture. The orthopaedic shoe above is instantly covetable with its chunky built-in wedge and looks like it could have come off the catwalk, I WANT!
An orthopaedic touch adds something a little uncanny and unexpected to a shoe. Dries Van Noten‘s 07 shoes (left and bottom) had a real orthopaedic feel which made them all the more exciting. Compare with the amazing pair of real orthopaedic shoes (right) and you can see the influence.
Two other labels who do ortho well are Acne (left) Opening Ceremony (right), both shoes are high fashion but with a slightly medical feel. The simple design and NHS factor makes these kind of shoes the perfect outfit neutraliser to anything sexy, fussy or overly girly.
Orthopaedic shoes: Cobcord, Bill Bird
