Net-A-Porter's bestselling item of 2013 wasn't a dress, a party shoe or an It bag, but a sheepskin-lined boot by Isabel Marant
The runaway success of the Isabel Marant Nowles boot is, at first glance, baffling. It is kind of… weird looking. And yet it has seen off competition from delectable morsels of fashion candy – chic dresses, fairytale party shoes, It bags – to become online boutique Net-A-Porter's bestselling item for 2013. The Nowles boot is a leather and suede ankle boot, with a sheepskin lining and concealed wedge heel, that retails for £440. It is a Frankenstein design, combining elements from the Ugg boot (the squashy texture and Lego chunkiness) with others from the hi-top trainer (the height and close-fitting silhouette) and a dash of Timberland hiking boot (the bold, rope-like laces). Crucially, it gives the impression of a flat shoe, but the combination of a one-inch platform and a two-and-a-half-inch concealed wedge gives the wearer a significant chunk of extra height.
The Nowles is the latest version of the hi-top trainers and ankle boots that have elevated the Isabel Marant brand from a niche label for affluent Parisiennes into a name with totemic power for a generation of young women (see the frenzied scenes on launch day when Marant collaborated with H&M). Marant came up with the idea as an 11-year-old tomboy, when she wanted to be taller, but to keep her favourite sneakers, and hit upon the solution of pressing pieces of cork into their soles, to give a secret height boost. This is fashion for a generation who hit 30 – maybe even 40 – not yet ready to leave their teenage sneaker-wearing identity behind, but who want the figure-flattering, leg-lengthening boost that a high heel gives.