National Post

Interchang­eable HEELS

Tanya Heath couldn’t find the shoes of her dreams — a pair with interchang­eable heels to take her from the o∞ce to the sidewalk — so she invented them herself

- BY KATE WILKINSON Weekend Post Tanya Heath Paris shoes range in price from ¤255 to ¤355. Interchang­eable heels range from ¤20 to ¤45, online at tanyaheath.com

Designer Tanya Heath comes from an academic background in internatio­nal relations and business innovation. Raised in Ottawa and now living in Paris, she spent years unsuccessf­ully searching for the perfect pair of stylish yet comfortabl­e heels to carry her through a busy day. Her solution: One shoe that could be worn with multiple interchang­eable heel heights. Thanks to 14 engineers, a few patents and a significan­t, seven-figure investment, Heath’s line of sandals and closed-toe shoes are now a reality. They can be worn as low walking heels, mid-sized pumps or delicate stilettos. Kate Wilkinson spoke with Heath about her multi-platform idea.

Q Why did you decide to enter the shoe design industry?

A It came mostly through my own experience as a user. I probably spent, I don’t know, ¤50,000 looking for a perfect pair of shoes that could take me through the day, and I never found one. So I needed something to be fashionabl­e enough for having an executive position, and comfortabl­e enough to walk my kids to school and to spend the entire day in. And in France, you don’t change shoes as much — it’s a growing custom, but you don’t the way Canadian women do, and I refused to wear ballerina flats because I’m not tall, blond and skinny. So I didn’t really find what I wanted, and I have a background in innovation, so I decided to use what I knew about innovation to do something about this problem. It’s been three and a half years now that I’ve been working on it. We knew the technology worked as of the 7th of July last year, but what happened in between is we’ve had to start working aggressive­ly on the fashion aspects. We had to create leather uppers, so the shoe itself would be beautiful. Because if we couldn’t create a beautiful shoe, then the whole premise of having comfort and glamour in the same shoe wouldn’t hold true. Q How does the technology in the shoes work? A There’s a little button, and you just click on the button, and the heel comes off, and then you can just slip in a lower heel. At the moment we have three heels — a pointy heel, a stiletto, and in French you’d call it a trotteur, a walking heel, [or] lower heel. ... It’s a universal platform, so if you buy one pair of shoes, you can buy as many heels as you want. And if you buy a new pair of shoes, your old heels will work on the new shoes. ... The idea is that you never have a lost investment. Q Can they become flat shoes? A It’s always a heel. My reading of the market is that if you want a ballerina or a foldable ballerina, there’s a hundred. I didn’t think there was any point in redoing something that’s already been done.

Q What makes this line different from other shoes with interchang­eable straps and heels?

A There’s absolutely nobody else on the planet who’s made a changeable heel work. And then in terms in changeable heels, we’re the only ones who do multiple height. So it’s incredibly different; we go from a four-centimetre low heel, to a nine-centimetre high heel, all on the same shoe. And we do it beautifull­y.

Q Who do you see getting the most use out of your shoes?

A In France, I’d done it for profession­al women, but in fact, the women who really are very enthusiast­ic is more the fashionabl­e woman, because she really likes changing her heel styles. ... What they’re buying into is the fact that you can change from a pink heel to a blue heel, and that they can really customize their look. In Canada, I see much more response from somebody who’s already changing their footwear. European women are responding, I’d say, to the fashion side of things. I think Canadian women will respond to both. I think Canadian women definitely want to look good, but they understand the pragmatic side of the offer.

Q You were born in Canada but are now based in Paris. What are some of the difference­s between Canadian and French style?

A Canadian women are fashion conscious, I would say — it depends a lot on where you are. So for example Ottawa, my hometown, I honestly have the feeling that everybody’s going to go canoeing at some point. There’s a lot of yoga wear, and there’s a lot of active wear that you would definitely never see in Paris. In Toronto, if you’re in the financial sector, you see a lot of executive-type women. In France, there’s more of an emphasis on being stylish, less of an emphasis in being profession­al. If I look at the way my friends in Paris dress, they’re probably spending a lot more money on handbags and shoes than my Canadian friends. For a French woman, those are investment pieces, so that would mean that it would be very standard in Paris to see a woman in a Vuitton or a Prada handbag, but she’d be wearing them with H&M jeans, and she’ll mix a lot more. I think in Toronto what I’m seeing is more standard. In Paris, most women will mix across categories a lot more. And Paris is, generally, more casual. So there’s less suits going on, yet it’s more chic. We have less closet space, so we have to buy, in a way, smarter. So we have a lot less of everything.

 ??  ?? And then there’s the
stiletto.
And then there’s the stiletto.
 ??  ?? At 9 cm, this heel offers height with
a sturdy base.
At 9 cm, this heel offers height with a sturdy base.
 ??  ?? The walking heel
is 4 cm high.
The walking heel is 4 cm high.

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