In following Paris Fashion Week I bumped into Yves Saint Laurent FW17 runway. Shoes donned by the model Aviv Schneider then shocked me so much to write this post on its crazy innovation. 

We're already aware of YSL genius not-only applied on footwear. In London  this brand put charming pumps with its logo as heel ("Opium" pumps) on runways. Brand-new item during PFW17 is the no-heel pumps donned by models during YSL Collection by Anthony Vaccarello: "A pair of sleek black patent leather heels stepped out onto the runway without a traditional heel" (Vogue). It was minimalism winning as itself! 

Difficult footwear is nothing new. In 1993 already  Vivienne Weswood provided 9-inch-high platform-chopine heels. During these recent Fashion Weeks 2017 we enjoyed, above all, the disco-shaky heels by Marc Jacobs, as well as footwear by Iris Van Herpen and Maison Margelia. It's like brave designers conquering runways this year!

However, these new no-heel pumps designed by Vaccarello stroke me due to the fact I could not fully understand how they worked.
First, sentence on the bottom is almost unreadable to me. I do not know French so far: is it written "Kvuelle Moi" (not sure of this! It may be a graphic mistake instead of "Quelle Moi" = my own thing)

Secondly, my curiosity pushed me surfing on the web until I met a very interesting Vogue's post on the interview to a Physics Professor of Columbia's University (US) at this regard. To sum up the chair of Physics Prof. Michael Tuts wrote as follows: "Essentially, the foot exerts a force on the shank. That force is then transmitted to the flat heel, which, in turn, exerts a force on the ground at both ends of the flat heel. In that sense, it is not different from the regular shoe where the foot exerts a force on the shank and the shank exerts a force on the ground through the actual vertical heel and the toe, which is in contact with the ground." 

Moreover, to demonstrate how the Vaccarello's pumps can successfully work  otherwise getting wrong the physics scholar explained that "From the physics point of view, there is a safety concern, namely for the new shoe, the bottom piece has to extend past the point where most of the weight is pressing down on the shoe. If the bottom piece is too short, then you will tip over backward. If the bottom piece is long, then it will be stable." On the left here, the Prof. Tuts' diagram better explaining this mechanism.

By searching on USPO, EPO and WIPO databases I could not find any patent application concerning this item from YSL FW2017. This may suggest me that the French maison preferred not to promote the concerning patent request at the first step (I guess until the Vaccarello's runway above mentioned): the so called "authorization to prior public access" (which is different step by step Country by Country - as explained on WIPO website). This could explain why I could find neither any clue nor any drawing in any of the above mentioned proper websites so far. Otherwise I was not able to successfully check those databases: I will keep you posted, btw.

To complete this post let me briefly introduce Mr. Vaccarello, the italian-belgian fashion designer who, as above mentioned, debuted in YSL staff last year to substitute the fab designer, Hede Slimane, at this French maison. His debut refreshed the brand by renewing it as 80s'  kitsch and kaboodle. 

Prior then Anthony Vaccarello (1982) performed as Creative Director at Versus Versace, while designing his own eponymous line. Throughout his resume he boasted collaborations with another big fashion brand such as Fendi (under Karl Lagerfeld). He started studying law (one year) before enrolling at a Cambre in 2000 to study sculpture. This justifies his ability to express such arts on his collections, particularly on shoes as seen here. 

During Paris Fashion Week we could admire his arts at his second collection branded Yves Saint Laurent. I think he's going surprising us all runway by runway. His career in fashion industry is just at the beginnig!

Sources: Vogue.com , AnthonyVaccarello, Fashion Week, TFL