A Walk On The Wild Side
Top shoe designer Manolo Blahnik has pulled a pair of stiletto shoes from his latest collection for fear that their "killer heels" could be dangerous, British media reported Tuesday.
Blahnik, renowned for his exotic and expensive creations, had designed a pair of shoes with razor-sharp 3-1/2 inch titanium heels, as thin as the ink tube in a ballpoint.
But the designer decided to withdraw the shoes over fears they could become a dangerous weapon if the wearer accidentally trod on someone else's foot, the Daily Telegraph reported.
"It is a heel he created out of curiosity but as soon as he saw it he realized he couldn't produce it for general sale because it would destroy floors and carpets," the designer's spokeswoman, Leslie Whittaker, said Tuesday.
"The heel was easy to walk on and steady but would cut through carpet. If the wearer stood on someone's foot, it would go straight through," she told the paper.
"But it is strikingly beautiful from a design point of view," Whittaker added.
The designer was also concerned that the shoes could be mistaken for weapons when luggage was X-rayed at airports.
Blahnik's shoes, known simply as "Manolos" by his devoted rich and famous followers, have been a staple of magazine fashion spreads since he launched his first shop in London in the 1970s.
No one from the designer's office was immediately available for comment but the spokesman told the paper that the shoes would now be remade with a safer heel.
Fans of the Spanish designer's stylish, pricey footwear include Bianca Jagger, Madonna and "Sex and the City"'s Sarah Jessica Parker.
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