The current issue of the JC Report looks at shoe trends on the runway - from platforms to patent to flamboyant or strict styles.

The ongoing success of the sky-high platform, an authentic mainstay over the last few seasons, is a case in point. Assertive and dramatic, platforms marry bold design, attention-grabbing appearance, and show-stopping absurdity all in one sturdy piece. While they may be highly impractical, they definitely make a statement. They're to the silhouette what an exclamation mark is to a sentence. Can anyone walk in them? Hardly. Nevertheless, they work visual wonders, and in this hyper-fast era of the all-encompassing image, that's all that counts.

The a/w '07-'08 collections marked a transitory moment for fashion, with old and new ideas mingling together on a swirling, sometimes confusing carousel. Accessories moved accordingly as the action was polarized to far-flung extremes. On the one hand, you had theatrical tricks elevated to the nth degree; on the other, the quest for a new strictness. In both cases, the stress was on pureness of design. Excessive or sedate, it's the contour of the shoe that counts.

Read the full report here.