From outrageous heights to heel-less wonders platforms are not just for disco anymore, we take a look at a true summer staple and how it’s changed over the years.
Salvatore Ferragamo sandal, 1940
Back in the 1930s and 1940s, Italian Ferragamo brought the platform to life by mixing science and architecture with luxurious materials and high art. Inspired by modern American architecture, Ferragamo would go on to design shoes for such stars as Rita Hayworth, Sofia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Ava Gardner, Katherine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich,
and Bette Davis.
1970s Platform
The decade most associated with platforms, the 70s saw outrageous versions of the funky footwear everywhere, from the disco, to the supermarket, and even in the office as both men and women wore them to work. A trend for the young and old, men and women, platforms were as necessary in the 70s as bell-bottoms and shag carpets. You knew the shoe was a real fashion item when pop acts as varied as ABBA and KISS were never on stage without their platforms and parents staged interventions, fearing for the health and sanity of the younger generation.
The platform craze faded until about the mid 90s when a little ol’ group called the Spice Girls put them back on every one’s fashion radar with their love of sneaker platforms. Geri, Emma, Victoria, Mel C., and Mel B. made the platform fun and young again, and much more approachable thanks the sneaker design. Young girls everywhere wanted a piece of the girl power for themselves by having a pair of their own.
Platforms began making appearances on and off the runway, but perhaps it was Miu Miu’s iconic S/S 2010 collection that really put the modern platform on the map. Covered in fun designs featuring cats, sparrows and daisies, the collection showed that platforms offered a fun and more comfortable alternative to stilettos heels.
Perhaps no brand has done more for the platform than Jeffrey Campbell. From the now infamous Lita to his reincarnation of the sneaker platform to his daring heel-lees designs, JC has teased and inspired shoe lovers everywhere with his soaring heights, love of studs and his use of every color under the rainbow. Perhaps, the next phase of the platform revolution will be the flatform? We’ll just have to keep watching to see!
