Is This Shoe the Answer to Your High-Heeled Woes?

High heels — those beautiful torture devices that lure you in with the promise of long legs and leave you hobbled by blisters within the first hour. Why subject yourself to endless pain when you can wear Silvia Fado's shock-absorbing heels instead? Yeah, Steve Madden stilettos are cute and all, but do they "work with your body’s natural motion, rather than against it?" No, they do not.

Fado's "Kinetic Traces" line of shoes is designed with the novel idea of making high heels a pleasurable experience. What these pumps and wedges lack in red soles they make up for in artistry. Fado reveals on her website that she was inspired by the technology used in footwear for performance sports.

I have been analysing comfort elements in footwear, particularly impact absorption, shoe weight, traction (the relationship between shoe and surface) and upper durability. I sought to bring these concepts into the design of high-end women’s high heels. The central concept of the project development was impact absorption, which was studied from a mechanical point of view because heels are structures which are affected by many different forces during the process of human motion.

While you won't find your next basic black pump among Fado's designs, these shoes are totally cool (and definitely high fashion). Unfortunately, the "Kinetic Traces" line is only available by special order right now, but hopefully a commercial line will come our way in the near future. I'd love to get my hands on a pair if it means dancing all night without needing to kick off my heels.

Images: Silvia Fado