"The inspiration came from my travels," says Louboutin. "When you travel to many different places you realise that nude does not mean the same thing in every country. Mostly when people talk of nudes they are talking of their own colour of skin." Now, five different Louboutin models are available in the five "Les Nudes" colours, and the disembodied arms are more than just slightly spooky props: christian louboutin platform has stores in Shanghai, Beijing, Mumbai and New Delhi and in some store windows, "where there is a sensitivity about female nudity", shoes are displayed on arms, rather than legs, to demonstrate the skin match, says Gardner. "That adds another layer to the object."

 

Still, the dripdown effect in fashion has yet to be felt. "I haven't really seen lots [of shoes in a variety of skin tone colours]," says Stewart, "but maybe that trend is not as big as it once was. I see a lot of eye-catching shoes now, whereas that trend was about downplaying the shoe." Indeed, the biggest catwalk trends this season are clompy, hiking-inspired "ugly" sandals and haute trainers. But while skin-coloured shoes may not be cutting-edge now, they have become something of a staple. The Duchess of Cambridge still wears hers and they still rule the red carpet. The hot new name in leg-lengthening shoes is Stuart Weitzman, whose Nudist model is so-called not because of its colour but because the straps are barely visible at all. Weitzman's Nudists come in a variety of shades – the lightest are not "nude" but Pan, Nappa and Light Gold.

 

"I do think that magazines and designers are using the term 'nude' less," says Stewart. So that's progress of sorts, if a little too late for the boom time of nakedly sexy, leg-lengthening shoes.

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