High-tech shoes transform from flats to high heels with push of a button
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A start-up footwear maker is trying to steal the hearts of Manolo-loving New York fashionistas with a high-tech high heel that can be converted into a comfortable flat at the press of a button.
Runway Heels has infused the new pumps with technology designed by Silicon Valley engineers, which allows the heels to retract into the shoe in a few seconds whenever the wearer wants to go from business to pleasure.
“As a commuter, working mom and a former flight attendant I saw the need for a more versatile shoe,” said company owner Melody Avecilla.
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The Los Angeles entrepreneur said she got the idea when she was pregnant and would come home from work with aching feet.
“Initially, I went to master shoe craftsmen and I got resistance . . . It’s hard for them to think outside the box,” she said. “So I went to engineers who knew nothing about shoes.”
Runway Heels will cost between $199 and $249 a pair.
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Other companies have offered similar heel-to-flats shoes — but they don’t convert with just the press of a button.
Camileon Heels’ convertible shoes, which sell for between $300 and $375, rely on the wearer manually pushing in and pulling out the heel.
Paris-based Tanya Heath sells fashionable heels with up to six-inch heights that convert into flats — but the heels are detachable and need to be stowed and carried once removed. The shoes cost $300 a pair — plus $38 to $58 per heel set, depending on height.
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Brandy Hammock, who sells Tanya shoes in her Florence, Ala., store Creative Jewelers, says the heels are “extremely popular” even with the hefty price tag.
Fashion experts say the $40 billion high-heel industry is ripe for change, and point to issues associated with pumps and stilettos, such as bunions, sciatica, knee and back pain.
“There is a lot of design work being done around convertible heels,” said Candace Corlett, president of retail consultancy WSL.
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“It’s an acknowledgment that five-inch stilettos were not made for walking but for posing and strutting.”
This article originally appeared on the New York Post.