What Happened to the High Heel?

In the late 1980s, Susan Conlin, then in her twenties working as a bank auditor in Philadelphia, was one of many career women wearing skirt suits, coiffed hair, and high heels to work. Today, a librarian in New Jersey, Conlin’s shoes can still be heard clacking on the marble floors — but she’s become an anomaly. In a staff of 30, she’s the only one still in heels.

“We used to have casual Fridays but now everything is casual. Wearing high heels just makes it all feel special,” said Conlin, now 61. She still wears heels everywhere, from grocery shopping to the mall. “I’m sure at some point a day will come when I have to wear sturdy, sensible shoes, but they will have to pry [the heels] from my cold, dead hands.”

Devotion like Conlin’s is increasingly rare. Once immortalised in TV shows and films like “Sex and the City” and “The Devil Wears Prada” as the go-to for glamorous women striding confidently through city streets, for today’s everyday consumer, the high heel is a symbol of a bygone era, out of step with comfort-driven footwear trends.

But rather than disappearing entirely, the heel category is shifting. The classic stiletto is on the decline — sales dropped 12 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to data from retail analytics firm Edited — giving way to a broader range of heel types, such as kitten heels, wedges, and block heels. At the same time, flat shoes like ballet flats, loafers and boots may be capturing an increasing share of the market. Brands are adjusting accordingly — even those that are synonymous with heels, like Christian Louboutin, which increased its ballet flat assortment by 38 percent last year.

To successfully cater to consumers’ evolving footwear preferences, brands should focus on creating a wide range of styles that offer a fresh take on what femininity means in today’s market.

“That image of the peak of femininity being a woman in super high heels, it isn’t there anymore. It doesn’t resonate,” said Katharine Carter, fashion and retail analyst at Edited. “More creative sneaker silhouettes or designer flats can be a status symbol as well, equally as much as the heel used to be.”

The High Heel Falls Flat

The heel’s decline has been years in the making: The rise of streetwear and sneaker culture in the 2010s was a major factor, with women gravitating towards comfier shoes for everyday, saving their heeled footwear for work. And then the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the shift, ushering in the work-from-home boom, rendering the style all but obsolete except for special occasions. (Sales of high heels fell a whopping 65 percent in the second quarter of 2020, according to market research firm Circana.) Even as workers return to the office post-pandemic, they are coming back to workplaces that have relaxed their dress codes even further.

Brands that bank on heels have felt the impact of these changes firsthand: In 2024, Sarah Jessica Parker’s namesake line, which offered stilettos, wedges and block heels had capitalised on her “Sex and the City” character’s love of heels, closed.

Changes in popular denim silhouettes have also contributed to the decline of stilettos. While skinny jeans and tall heels were a trend in the 2010s, the current baggier denim styles pair better with pointed kitten heels. Slimmer shoes like Adidas’ Samba or Birkenstock’s clogs are also favoured by those who wear baggier bottoms, the rise of which have convinced consumers that they don’t need to wear stilettos in order to look fashionable.

“You always want some tension. You don’t want polish all over your outfit, and then you have a polished shoe. It’s just too one dimensional,” said Heather Archibald, chief merchandising and product officer at Rothy’s. “Customers are loving this tension of an ugly shoe — it could be a clog or a sneaker or something just comfortable and unexpected — with a more polished outfit. That’s also continuing to drive this flats trend.”

Towering Above the Rest

The heel, however, hasn’t died entirely, but instead is going through something of a renaissance. “Sneaker culture hit this side of the footwear market hard but even that has seen a decline,” said Christina Ciglar, creative director of retail at Steve Madden.” Nike isn’t doing drops anymore, the Jordans and Yeezys aren’t as coveted. People will still need a dressier shoe.”

Labels offering a new narrative that reclaims “girlhood” rather than focusing on the male-gaze-driven stiletto are succeeding in the heel segment, according to Edited’s Carter. Styles from Miu Miu, Simone Rocha and Sandy Liang, such as a ballet pointe shoe-inspired heel or slingbacks with bow-ties, are performing well. Chemena Kamali’s Chloé has also played a key role in drawing people back to elevated footwear, with its wedges and bohemian aesthetic.

“Brands that craft a strong narrative around femininity and openness — whether selling sneakers alongside heels — are the ones that will resonate with shoppers,” said Carter. “It’s no longer just about going to sports brands for sneakers; or Manolo for heels. These styles are now ubiquitous across all brands.”

For more mass-market labels like Rothy’s and Steve Madden, keeping their customers in the fold requires being nimble enough to adapt as their tastes change, offering both casual and formal options. Steve Madden has invested in expanding its assortment of kitten heels, platform heels and Mary Jane styles, according to Ciglar.

Rothy’s, meanwhile, is iterating on its signature Point flat, which it now offers six variations of — one with a floral motifs, another with gold hardware, for instance. It’s also capitalising on the resurgence of ballet flats and Mary Janes, having opened nine brick-and-mortar stores in the US last year, bringing their total fleet to 26.

Still, in an acknowledgment of the heel’s enduring (but evolving) place in women’s wardrobes, the brand launched a Mary Jane block heel earlier this year to cater to consumers seeking formal options for occasions like weddings and holiday parties. The style has been the brand’s top seller every week, said Archibald.

“A lot of [embellishments] that used to live on heels don’t need to anymore,” Archibald added. “There’s also this option of mimicking what used to live on a heel and doing it as a flat.”