Choosing the right footwear is always important for completing an outfit, but for the multi-talented musician and fashion icon Prince, it was essential. At just under 5'3", Prince’s physical size didn’t match up to his outsized charisma or persona. He was a fan of wearing high heels not only because he found them stylish (and said that women were attracted to them) but also to give himself a boost of several inches. Much of his vast footwear collection consisted of size 7 ankle boots, covered in luxe fabrics that matched his tailored suits.
Known for his unique sense of style both onstage and off, Prince never settled for less than the best. It's not surprising that he formed a lasting relationship with the famous Sunset Boulevard custom footwear shop Andre No. 1, founded by cobbler-to-the-stars Andre Rostomyan. The shop, now operated by his nephew, Gary Kazanchyan, has provided shoes for Hollywood royalty ranging from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga.
Kazanchyan estimates that the shop created around 3,000 pairs of high-heeled shoes for Prince during a 20-year-old period, sometimes producing as many as 30 or 40 pairs a month. According to Kazanchyan, Prince often changed his footwear several times a day, and he “refused to be seen at, say, a press conference in the morning wearing the same heels as he wore onstage the night before.”
The Shoe Lover Formerly Known as Prince:
- The main footwear style that Andre No. 1 created for the star was a heeled bootie, custom-made based on a wooden mold of Prince’s feet. He tended to wear white shoes onstage, but there were many other variations, such as heels in Prince’s signature shade of purple or even light-up Lucite heels.
- Besides giving Prince a stylish lift, the shoes had to hold up during his energetic performances, often involving dancing, running, jumping, kicking, squatting, and even doing the splits. The shop used a stainless steel bar and heavy wood to support the shoes that Prince wore onstage to ensure that the heels didn’t snap off.
- One of the best-selling musicians of all time, with over 150 million records sold worldwide, Prince Rogers Nelson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. His music defied easy categorization, spanning genres from funk, pop, and R&B to rock, jazz, and hip-hop. In addition to being a singer, songwriter, producer, and actor, Prince was a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums.
