From ankle boots with 13cm heels to gold over-the-knee boots: footwear for men that dare

Jimmy Choo’s bootiee for Billy Porter on the Golden Globes 2020 red carpet

Though men have worn heels since the mists of time – in the Middle Ages they were worn by aristocrats as a status symbol – in modern times they have fallen in and out of fashion in the worlds of theatre and the runway.

King of rock, David Bowie, of course, famously wore boots with a heel and platform on various occasions. Something Achille Lauro paid homage to last November, when he posted a photo on Instagram, which was later removed, wearing a pair of boots with a stiletto heel. One of the five outfits a Sanremo 2020 singer wore was even inspired by the character Ziggy Stardust. Other genderless shoes include the over-the-knee boot, the undisputed star of the musical Kinky Boots (performed at MICAM last year), worn in the final scene by Charlie Price, in addition to drag queen Lola to relaunch her shoe shop. And then there’s designer Laurentin Cosmos, who made the press go wild (we even talked about it) in 2017 when he made a line of high heels, produced in Italy, for men and women, inspired by the high heel shoes he had been wearing for years. Even Marc Jacobs posted a photo on Instagram of him wearing high heel and chunky platform ankle boots as he took a walk in the park last year; he more recently posted a picture of the same model in bright red.

Much talked about celeb, Billy Porter – no doubt a spokesperson for eccentric fashion – made his latest appearance on the red carpet of the Oscars 2020 wearing a bespoke Jimmy Choo boot with a high platform with a Giles Deacon Couture dress, paying tribute to the architectural beauty of Kensington Palace. Billy Porter wore a Jimmy Choo pair of Booties on the Golden Globes’ 2020 red carpet, too.

One daring brand is Collini Milano that, staying true to its glam-rock heart with long golden spikes adorning its clothes and accessories, for autumn/winter 20/21 is showcasing black or gold leather, metal-effect over-the-thigh boots with 5cm heels.