Report by Julia Robson

Are flats the new heels? The message from the London catwalks was blurry. Shoes were mostly preposterously high, particularly at Peter Pilotto, Mark Fast and Bernard Chandran. However, when flats did put in an appearance – like the androgynous, shiny black brogues at Meadham Kirchhoff, and the Christian Louboutin rollerball loafers and ruffed-up Doc Martens at young talent showcase Fashion East – they floored it.

Off-catwalk, the fashion rabble voted with their feet. To quote Cheryl Cole, flats got a 100 per cent YES. Doc Martens, Converse baseball boots, plimsolls, brogues, loafers, workman’s boots, flat (but not a pump), flatter (lace-up wedges are cool) and flattest (studded is best) are the new footwear of choice (check out fashion blogs The Sartorialist and Jak & Jil, if you don’t believe me). Handy for negotiating cobblestones at London Fashion Week HQ Somerset House, too (those who stayed loyal to heels made the former dwelling of the British Admiralty look like Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks).

“Thank God the brogue is back in fashion,” mused six-foot model Erin O’Connor (well, she would wouldn’t she?). A glance around static displays at the onsite industry trade exhibition showed a pendulum swing. Shoes were either very, very high or very, very low.
Even Nicholas Kirkwood, who invented the ‘superheel’ and those whoppers for Rodarte’s New York show, has also done flats for Spring/Summer 2010 – for the first time EVER (strappy and closed and lace-ups). “I’d been meaning to do them for a couple of seasons, but there was too much saturation with the ballerina. There’s a lot of scope with flats. Next season, they are going to be very important.” In the meantime, Grazia magazine’s Mel Rickey has found the best compromise. “Doc Martens heels. The Holy Grail of footwear. The perfect in-between boot.”

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