Kicking back: Why we’re all obsessed with low heels now
Stilettos and super-high heels are out. Power dressing today is stylish but less wobbly. We’re in our comfort era
Look down. How many inches do you prefer? Tsk, tsk. We’re talking about your shoe preferences. High heels once signified peak femininity and allure. A six-inch heel screamed “Look at me!” They made a woman seem sexy, powerful, out of reach. They were painful to wear. But many women were willing to do “Loub jobs” to numb their heels rather than give them up.
Fashion is more forgiving now. Tabloids track how many “fancy flats” Kate Middleton owns. Japanese women are pushing back against the sexist rules that made heels compulsory in the office. No one’s judging you for showing up to a party in platform wedges, or one-inch slingbacks. Low heels are trending, and we’re all obsessed with shoes that feel like a hug on our feet. Here’s why…
Foot in the door
Until the pandemic, “people used to consider the design over the comfort of a shoe when they bought it,” says Amol Goel, founder of Louis Stitch footwear. “After the pandemic, they became concerned with not putting undue stress on their bodies.” When Goel launched their brand in 2020, stilettos made up 40% to 45% of the market demand. Now, it’s just 24%. We’ve moved towards block heels, mules, platform wedges, kitten heels, and even sliders and ballet flats. “Nobody wants to sacrifice their personal comfort for style today.”
Other footwear brands realigned their design priorities when they spotted the shift. Neha Kumthekar co-founded the footwear label Oceedee in 2015. Most of their early customers were Millennials. They went in strong, with heels that were four inches or higher. “Eventually, we realised that we had to give Indian women what they really wanted. A 2.5-inch heel is the sweet spot that most women are comfortable with,” Kumthekar says. Now, 80% of their portfolio features heel heights of 2.5 inches and below. The remaining 20% “is where we get to play around with height” she says. “Our Gen Z customers won’t buy a shoe because you tell them to, or just because it went viral.” It’s why their loafer heels and sliders are some of their bestselling categories now.
“The emphasis is on shoes that keep up with you, not shoes you have to structure your whole day around,” says Laksheeta Govil, founder of the footwear brand Fizzy Goblet. A platform, wedge, or block heel now represents festive or occasion wear as much as the pointed stiletto once did.
If the shoe fits…
“We don’t compromise on comfort anymore. In fact, it’s one of the new aspects that has come to define luxury,” says Tanushri Biyani, founder of bridal footwear label Anaar. It’s not just enough for a shoe to feel good or make you look stylish. It must “reflect confidence, versatility and ease, too”. “Luxury footwear is not aspirational any more, it’s experiential. Women now seek shoes that let them move and live fully.”
This means that brands have had to invest in shoe ergonomics. Soles have to be lightweight, and the position of the pain points have to be calibrated to the arch of the shoe perfectly. Louis Stitch has designed their own AI-supported software to create shoes that feel comfortable in both smaller and larger sizes. They’ve increased the thickness of the socks – the padded, cushioned part of the shoe that rests above the sole — from 3 mm to 9 mm. “If you get the shoe to correctly mould to the curvature of the foot, you’ve got a comfortable shoe.”
Kumthekar noticed that the first thing customers did when they came to the store was to pick up a shoe and prod the top part of it. So, they focused on comfier cushioning made of memory foam padding. “In a couple of days, it ‘remembers’ the shape of your foot and thus makes for a more comfortable wearing experience.” To make their block heels sturdy, they developed a straight heel with no inward angle or incline, like most shoes tend to have. They’ve experimented with the shape, such as cylindrical heels or twisted heels, which combine the sleekness of a stiletto shoe with the reliability of a block heel. “The secret is balancing all your pressure points evenly, and giving your feet enough room to breathe without it being loose.”
Govil’s aim is to make “pretty shoes that you feel good in for hours. It should give you a cushiony, cloud-like feeling when you’re walking.”
Step by step
Stilettos will never go completely out of style, says Kumthekar. “Getting your first pair of high heels is a defining moment in girlhood. I don’t think that will change. But our interest in them is cyclical. It keeps waxing and waning.”
During festivals, there’s a surge in demand. But there’s been a larger shift in how we view fashion and femininity. “We were all fascinated by the visuals of glamorous women such as Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City. Today, that kind of messaging has changed,” says Kumthekar. “We’re confident, but in a more internal rather than outwardly demonstrative way.”
From HT Brunch, October 25, 2025
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