The New Regime: Nicholas Kirkwood

The New Foot Fetishist: Towering over the competition with his dizzying designs, Nicholas Kirkwood reinvents the way we strut.

Adieu kitten heels -- hello Batman wings. Having just designed for the likes of Basso & Brooke, Tommy Hilfiger and 3.1 Phillip Lim’s 2008 runway shows, and now currently overhauling Pollini, Nicholas Kirkwood is on a roll. The London shoe architect has caught the attention of stiletto heavyweights the world over, including one self-described “despotic queen of shoes,” a blogger who has threatened to maim and kill for his power-woman designs. And still, when asked for the biggest compliment he’s received so far, Kirkwood laughs bashfully and takes ages to muster up an answer: “People say they’re quite comfortable. Which is good, because they’re kind of high.”

Try telling that to Abbey Lee Kershaw. The model wobbled down the Rodarte runway last fall, like a toddler in her mom’s high heels, before wiping out—thanks to Kirkwood’s stiletto/wedge hybrid. “I feel slightly sorry when that kind of thing happens,” he says. “Maybe I should just do rubber soles from now on.” Has he ever tried walking in his own designs? “I’m a size 9. Maybe if I got really drunk one night, I could hang one shoe off the end of my big toe.”

Photo: Ben Morris