by Brooke Varney
Kenneth Cole designs the world’s largest high heel shoe.
We’ve worn (and incessantly complained about) some pretty high heels in our life, but Kenneth Cole’s latest creation makes wearing any of them look like child’s play. Towering over most people at 6 feet 2 inches tall and 6 feet 5 inches wide, the world’s largest high heel shoe took over 400 hours to create.
Modeled after Cole’s Otto leather lug-sole bootie from his fall 2014 collection, the shoe came to be with the help of the Today Show’s Jill Martin. Martin, whose bucket list includes breaking a world record, said, “I thought something shoe-related would be a perfect fit,” she said. “This has been a labor of love, and I could not have asked for a better teammate. Kenneth Cole is everything he prides himself to be: creative, quirky and extremely philanthropic.”
Built by a costume and prop company, it required five and a half hides, as well as 3D printing to create the foot-long buckle and clasp of the shoe. The collaboration celebrated the 10th annual Guinness World Records Day, as well as the 60th anniversary of the Guinness World Records book. The shoe debuted on the Today Show last week, and is now on display in the shoe department of Lord and Taylor’s Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York City. Cole said of the creation, “The steps involved with creating a shoe are so underestimated, so when Jill called with this idea, I immediately jumped at the chance. My career as a designer has literally reached a new height, and as one might assume, breaking a Guinness World Record is no small feet.” Well said, Mr. Cole. Well said.
Jill Martin and Kenneth Cole celebrate their world record-breaking creation.