In the days ahead the fashionable will be swapping their trainers for sandals but this year the exposure of toes will mean not only the need for a pedicure but also an appetite for heights. Why? Because platform sandals are set to be the shoe of the summer.
They have appeared on the catwalk at brands like Versace, Rejina Pyo, Valentino and Jacquemus. Kendall Jenner, Dua Lipa and Bella Hadid have endorsed the trend. And it’s starting to show in shopping habits. In April, Klarna revealed that searches for platform sandals were up 69% in the last six months.
“Platforms are really doing incredibly well, from Saint Laurent’s Bianca and Jodie, to Valentino Garavani’s Tan-go and D’Accori,” said Cassie Smart, the head of womenswear at Matchesfashion. This is also the case beyond luxury brands: Asos reports that platforms are “becoming a wardrobe staple for our customers”. The Note sandal, a glamorous platform style that comes in various summery prints, is particularly popular.
For Laura Antonia Jordan, fashion & lifestyle features director at Grazia, the return of platforms like these spell “the end of Zoom era fashion. I think they are now what those supersized earrings were during lockdowns. They signal that dressing up – properly, head to toe – is back.”
Jordan is a longtime fan of the platform: “They are my favoured heel because I am 5ft 1in, I can actually walk in them and I think the clompy, stompy proportions give them a bit of badass swagger that spindly heels just do not have.”
Flatforms – the flat sandal with an extended chunky sole – are also popular. Matches reports that the Prada “cage” sandal – a jelly fisherman’s style design with a platform – has sold out, at £590. For 2022, a flatform with an ankle strap at Marks & Spencer is a bestseller.
For those who balk at very high platforms or don’t appreciate the flatform, clog mules – like those made by Scholl in the 1970s – could also be a contender. Maddy Evans, the head of womenswear buying at Marks & Spencer, says designs like this are proving a hit: “They will easily take your summer dress from day to night, whether it’s a British staycation or a beach getaway.”
