Am I a Wedge Convert? The Clunker Gets a Sexy Makeover
From Saint Laurent to Phoebe to Alaïa, the wedge is, well, wedging itself back into our closets.
Call it the wedgeiassance. Strapped into a suit at the Saint Laurent spring 2025 show, Bella Hadid posted a photo of herself louchely stretching out her hooves. Hanging off her foot was not a teetering stiletto but a shiny black wedge with a nipple-pinched toe. The shoe was an optical illusion: Peep the look board, and you’ll spot that the wedge is actually plexiglass and not black, making it appear as if Hadid was mainly walking on air. Nevertheless, a wedge is a wedge.
Wedges have long been contentious. Sure, height is always elegant, but the shape’s bulk and hulk can feel and look like a weight is strapped to your ankle. Plus, wedges have long gotten a bad rap thanks to their cheap cork or espadrille composition, which I’ve dug into before. And yet, the wedge feels like it’s slowly clomping back.
Remember that Phoebe Philo sandal with the crack-gobbling, spread-eagle strap that debuted just a few months ago? The string thing was actually a wedge, not a heel! Just last week, Vogue’s José Criales-Unzueta covered a capsule collection with former editors Deena “Princess Deena” Aljuhani Abdulaziz, who launched a capsule collection with fellow former editor Marina Larroude, the founder of kicky footwear label Larroudé. The title was “Can Wedges Be Chic? These Two Editors-Turned-Designers Think So”. The two wedges featured were indeed chic: teetering things with a Mary Jane strap in reflective sky-scraper shines of gold and silver, along with a roomy peep toe. On the runway, the team at Dries van Noten featured wedges with saucy indented curves at the backs in snakeskin and patent leather. Two weeks before that? Look closely at the Alaïa runway, and you’ll spot slick mules with that prism heel. Oh, and duh: There was that gargantuan Chloé wooden clog, which caused a commotion in the front row last season.
While the wedge has some gnarly associations with the early ‘00s, the wedge has forward-thinking footing in history. In the January 1938 issue of Vogue, there is a photograph of a burgundy lace-up day shoe with a stacked black wedge by the famed Salvatore Ferragamo. The caption reads “[Ferragamo] is responsible for this radically new idea—the uplift of the sole”. Uplift the sole? What a literally elevated way to refer to the heel shape! Further in the article, the author notes that the soles were initially crafted out of cork—due to material rations during WWII—and then later, Ferragamo covered the buoyant phellem material in leather, bringing it from the beach to beyond. Note: Ferragamo, who studied anatomy, knew his way around comfortable shoes and he patented the wedge design in 1937.
There were wedge revivals in the ‘70s, the ‘90s, and, of course, the early ‘00s from Pierre Hardy, Coach, to Anne Klein, and, yes, Cavalli. Today, there is a general thirst for the wedge beyond the runway. This past week, I visited the studio Shop Nou in Los Angeles, which is run by
, a wheeler and dealer of vintage heels. She showed me a pair of radical Pucci wedges. There was a circle cut out from the wedge slathered in rhinestones! Very retro, Palm Springs-baking-in-the-sun. Or very oligarch-sidepiece-lounging-poolside. When I asked Ioannou more about her thoughts on the wedge, she sent me a link to her own piece about wedges that she had written only last week. (“Mine was about winter wedges,” she reassured me when I was nervous that I’d be repeating her). In her Substack, she included classics, like Prada’s 1998 blazing red cantilever wedge heel that was later reissued for spring 2022. The need for height is, well, perpetual—and the wedge, after all, is one of the sturdiest geometric shapes! In its own bulky way, it’s a classic.
Perhaps this resurgence is a call to gams, to clod our feet and, well, clomp. On the new front, there’s a freak-nasty Khaite one with a wicked curved arch and a similar hip-riding thong strap as Philo’s iteration. Tory Burch sells an espadrille wedge but lacquered in a sheeny black gloss. On the vintage front, there’s no shortage of cusp-of-the-millenium offerings from Just Cavalli (a denim pair is my favorite), tiny pieces of intergalactic architecture from Pierre Hardy, standard Prada anvils, and Manolo Blahnik in leopard print with a charming little bow. (PS. If anyone ever finds the Koji Tatsuno wedges above, I’ll give you my…left heel?). Whatever you pick, think of the wedge as an anchor to your look.
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I have those leopard print Manolos!! They are so comfortable and elegant. Def run half a size small in case anyone wonders.
I’m Very pro wedge because I broke my kneecap three years ago and remain generally afraid of heels. There’s something reassuring about the stability of a wedge. I have some from Rouje that I ordered a size too big but they’re still pretty.
I've never worn wedges in my life, but found myself buying a pair of secondhand black patent, pointed heel Chanel wedges a couple of weeks ago!! I thought they would be comfortable to wear with longer trousers, but I'm warming up to the silhouette altogether!