in 1673 Louis XIV passed an edict permitting nobles of the correct geological qualifications to wear red heeled shoes as an outward sign of their privilege and rank. It seems that little has changed between then and now - these Loewe shoes, their heels throttled with fur, are a similar external symbol of wealth and prestige.

However unlike the aristocratic pedigree indicated by les talons rouges, Stuart Vevers, head designer of Loewe, intended to express more bourgeoisie ideals for A/W 2010. These shoes and the collection itself were based on the mores of the middle classes and a quite specifically Parisian image of bourgeoisie chic - the fur running up the backs of these heels resembles nothing less than Pomeranian terriers snapping at the heels of well-bred ladies of the eighth arrondissement.

The Surrealists had an obsession with fashion, and specifically with shoes. Elsa Schiaparelli, the Surrealist couturière, collaborated with the infamous Salvador Dali to invert the silhouette, placing a shoe on the head as a Surrealist hat. With that in mind, it is simple to draw an analogy between these shoes and the ultimate Surrealist object: Meret Oppenheim's gazelle-fur lined teacup titled Fur Breakfast. The undeniable reference to cunnilingus aside, the shoes echo this fetishisation and sexualisation of an inanimate object, again using fur. In this case, the fur runs down the back of the heel, the heel itself 'penetrating' the tail.

For all their bourgeosie pretensions, there's an undeniable frisson of perversion in these shoes. Lest we forget that the perfect bourgeoisie housewife Séverine, anti-heroine of Belle de Jour, spent her days in a whorehouse, these shoes have a similar twisted take on the sexuality behind the buttoned-up primness of a middle class housewife.

Returning to Louis Quatorze, historians have reasoned that the meaning behind those scarlet heels was a warning to Louis' enemies that they would be crushed beneath the heels of those loyal to the king. Perhaps it's too great a leap to take Stuart Vever's work at Loewe as a modern counterpart - trampling luxury, and our precious preconceptions about value, literally underfoot. The idea of treading across luxury (specifically the luxury represented by these fox-tails digging under the heels of these shoes) fits with Vevers' general underminement, even deconstruction, of our ideas of contemporary luxury. Lighthearted luxury has rapidly become Vevers' leitmotif. These shoes are a prime example.