Byline: by Jane Mulkerrins

YOU'VE scaled the stairs in a platform wedge, taken a sky-scraper sandal for a spin and teetered less-than-elegantly across the cobbles in a stack-heeled boot, all in the name of footwear fashion.

But now the gauntlet has been thrown down with the arrival of Alexander McQueen's Armadillo and Alien shoes.

Ten towering inches of ankleworrying architecture, the bizarrely-shaped shoes have been likened to a goat's hoof or an ornate vase for the foot, and were first unveiled on the Paris catwalks last autumn.

McQueen, the bad boy of British fashion, sent his models (slowly) down the runway in two versions of the extreme shoe: the Alien (smooth and satin-covered) and the Armadillo (scaly animal skin) as part of his Spring/Summer 2010 collection.

Now the trend is gathering pace.

At last week's Hong Kong Fashion Week, Chinese designer Guo Pei showed off her geometric geisha girl platforms (pictured). The futuristic design, with a giant hole in the replica breitling heel, give more than a nod to McQueen's creations, but even models, who sashay for a living, appeared to be walking as if they had a table strapped to each foot.

And not everyone is applauding the march of the monster shoes.

It emerged this month that three of McQueen's favourite catwalk models rebelled and pulled out of his Paris show, refusing to risk broken ankles or reputations with a possible tumble on the runway.

Australian model Abby Lee Kershaw and her Russian colleagues Natasha Poly and Sasha Pivovarova - all vastly experienced in modelling for the major fashion houses including Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Balmain and Christian Dior - had 'work safety' concerns about the towering height of the heels.

Kershaw has good reason to be cautious - she fainted after taking part in McQueen's Spring/Summer 2009 show, when she was squeezed into an impossibly tiny corset paired with skyscraper heels - but the big-name models' pact is previously unheard of in the industry.

There were clearly no such concerns bothering the first brave fashionista to be seen wearing a pair, socialite and McQueen devotee Daphne Guinness, who, clad head-to-toe in a space-age ensemble by the designer, paraded a pale pink satin pair of Aliens down the red carpet late last year at the Nars' 15th anniversary party in New York.

But even she is put to shame by Lady Gaga, who manages to actually dance in a sparkling gold pair of Armadillos in the video for her new single Bad Romance.

Even before these two stepped out, the phones at McQueen HQ were ringing off the hook the day after replica rolex the catwalk show, with wealthy buyers keen to secure a pair for themselves, either to wear or as 'art pieces' according to a spokesman.

Pam Brady, accessories buyer for Browns (Brownsfashion.com), says that while the shoes certainly have the wow factor, Browns will not be stocking them.

'As much as these shoes are fantastic catwalk pieces,' she says, 'shoes that are this extreme are not often bought for stores such as ours, and designers like Alexander McQueen do tend to design more commercial and wearable versions that more buyers will invest in.'

Wearable is certainly not the watchword for the vertiginous creations, whose construction credentials are as impressive as their height, with each pair taking five days to make.

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