This past Met Gala, several guests took to the red carpet in heels so high that they dwarfed all the others. Kendall Jenner, Paris Hilton, Kim Petras, Anitta, and Grimes all wore Marc Jacobs’s Kiki boots, an ultra-high, 7-inch platform that takes the sweet Mary-Jane to the extreme, with a litany of buckles that fasten up the shin. The bold shoe choice has long been revered by Marc Jacobs acolytes, particularly among fans of his Gen Z-favored brand, Heaven. But they are not just a cult-favorite, and have recently appeared on the feet of A-listers from Beyoncé to Kim Kardashian and Olivia Rodrigo. Spiritually similar to Margiela Tabis, Kikis are subversive takes on a classic shoe that have exploded from a cult item to celebrity favorite. But, in terms of wearability, they share similarities with the Alexander McQueen armadillo boot and the Rick Owens Kiss boot, making their popularity outside of celebrity circles and red carpets somewhat surprising.
While they may be new in the zeitgeist, the shoes have existed since Jacobs unveiled them in a variety of colorways (including lavender, magenta, light pink, creme, silver, and black) in fall 2016. While the shoes have occasionally made appearances in editorial spaces, they were rarely seen outside of the glossy pages of a magazine until more recently.
The Kiki is able to reach such lofty heights today thanks to its predecessors. “We can trace back the first modern iteration of a platform shoe to Salvatore Ferragamo’s 1930s rainbow cork heeled platform. This style became particularly popular in Hollywood,” says Johnny Valencia, owner of Pechuga Vintage. “We start seeing the platform become popular again amongst the dancing queens of the ’70s, but also within the glam rock subculture. And that’s when the Kiki comes in.”
Valencia is a longtime fan and collector of Kikis, and is arguably the single biggest force—besides Marc Jacobs himself—behind the rise of the Kiki boot. Valencia has dealt shoes from his own collection, both archival and current, to fashion mavericks like Grimes and Doja Cat.
While the boots’ glam-rock roots explains early fans like Frances Bean Cobain, Valencia has found himself surprised by some wearers now that they’re gaining a foothold in the mainstream. “I was not expecting to see them on Beyoncé. That really took me by surprise,” he says. Beyoncé, who wore a pair of Swarovski-coated knee-high Kikis on the Renaissance World Tour, isn’t the only star of note to wear the out-there boots recently. Olivia Rodrigo has rocked several pairs, in both black patent leather and lilac, which she paired with her enviable vintage-heavy wardrobe. Dua Lipa wore a pair of black, ankle-high booties, captioning the photo on Instagram, “The higher the heel the closer to god.”
While all of these stars are top-tier dressers and risk-takers, Valencia has theories as to why the boots are taking off in this exact moment. “I think it’s the glamour that you feel when you first put them on that makes them so great. You really tower over people,” he says. “It also helps that Marc Jacobs has been smart about marketing these through new celebrity endorsements and in novel colorways and textiles.” Indeed, they officially hit the mainstream in August when Kim Kardashian starred in a Marc Jacobs ad campaign wearing a pair of white ankle Kikis with high white socks. Soon after, the brand s Los Angeles store installed inflatable Kiki legs in the store. To date, the hashtag #kikiboots has over 9.3 million views on TikTok.
“It seems like we’re experiencing the height of the trend which means more and more people will definitely partake,” Valencia says. Still, he encourages those weary of Kikis to give them a go. “Will there be Kiki fatigue in the near future? Perhaps. But I don’t think that should stop anyone from trying something new.”
