Armadillo shoe

The armadillo shoe (alternately armadillo heel or armadillo boot) is a high fashion platform shoe created by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen for his final collection, Plato's Atlantis (Spring/Summer 2010). Only 24 pairs exist: 21 were made during the initial production in 2009, and three were made in 2015 for a charity auction. The shoes are named for their unusual convex curved shape, said to resemble an armadillo. Each pair is approximately 12 inches (30 cm) from top to sole, with a 9-inch (23 cm) stiletto heel; this extreme height caused some models to refuse to walk in the Plato's Atlantis show. American singer Lady Gaga famously wore the shoes in several public appearances, including the music video for her 2009 single "Bad Romance".

Critical response to the armadillo heels was extensive, both immediately following the show and in retrospect. They are considered iconic in the context of the Plato's Atlantis show, McQueen's body of work, and in fashion history in general. Critics have referred to them as both grotesque and beautiful, sometimes in the same review. Much of the negative criticism focused on the height of the heel, which has been viewed as impractical, even unsafe. Other writers have explored the shoes as artistic statements. Pairs of armadillo heels have been featured in museum exhibitions, most prominently in the McQueen retrospective Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, first shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 2011.