Footwear

Swedish label Acne has taken androgynous to a whole new label. Acne became relevantly famous for sending their boys down the runway with pretty slim fitted jeans. But unlike Hedi’s, those were jeans most of the people could pull off. They have always portrayed a very Scandinavian aesthetic, in fact, they were one of the major labels to introduce the Scandinavian fashion to the world - many smaller labels see Acne as an example.

For their spring-summer 08 collection, Acne presented the male flats. I suppose that after several years of watching millions of girls wearing flats and how incredibly successful these were, they decided to create the very same ones for men. I don’t believe that Acne’s male flats will ever get to the point of becoming a mainstream item or even a chic “underground” piece, quite the contrary - I strongly feel that these should remain on the runway, and there only.

There are some minuscule so called “avant-garde” designers who are creating high-heeled shoes and other typically women swear items for men. None of these have become any famous nor powerful yet, I suppose that they will never be. Although some groups inside the industry might accept the appearance of such pieces, the market - which is the thing that matters the most - will never let these reach the “masses”.