Shoe Report
Get Your Ankles Ready, Girls: The Platform Heel Is Back Again
Three of our favorite black-haired beauties, plus a handful of designers, prove it’s here to stay.
They say three’s a trend, and sometimes a trio of silhouettes or styles takes weeks to permeate culture. In the case of one particular style of shoes in 2026, it took about 24 hours. A handful of the sexy, smartly dressed girls we regularly tap in with all wore teetering platform pumps in quick succession, confirming what we already suspected: The platform heel is officially making a comeback.
For her VMAs performance, Charli xcx threw on a pair of croc-embossed heels with a solid five-inch vertical; and for street-style appearances in Paris, Rosalía and Gabbriette both added some height with peep-toe pumps. Rosalía’s vintage Yves Saint Laurent pair are the classic Tribtoo pump, which were created by then-designer Stefano Pilati in late 2009 and defined a moment in fashion; that is, the 2010s, when party-girl style was all about sky-high heels, itty-bitty dresses, smoky eyes, and ripped tights. (You can just picture Mischa Barton, the Olsen twins, or Lindsay Lohan in paparazzi pictures with that description, no?) Almost 20 years later, in the words of Charli herself, the fashion world is taking us back to heaven (figuratively) like it’s 2007.
It’s still early days of the trend, and we still have eight more days of Paris Fashion Week to get through, the Spring/Summer 2027 runways are already pointing towards a more precariously balanced future. Nicola Brognano at 7 For All Mankind was one of the few to show the platform pump for Fall/Winter 2026 (Charli has worn them several times already, including at the VMAs), and this season, he doubled down on his sleazy girl aesthetic and sent out even more colorful options for the warmer months to come. McQueen, The Attico, and Moschino all did party dressing with a markedly higher lift in their shoes than usual, and even quirky king Thom Browne couldn’t resist glamming up a towering pair of heels.
Not everything that glitters is gold, and not every pair of shoes that walks a runway is sure to make it into our wardrobes, but with a one-two-three It Girl endorsement and a significant amount of sightings on the current Fashion-Month runways, we’re betting big on the infamously ankle-breaking platform. Tribtoos are pretty inexpensive on secondhand retail sites right now, so grab a pair before they’re everywhere again.
