THING; The Chanel Platform

By William Grimes Published: May 17, 1992 WHAT: Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel's designer, has canonized the cork-soled platform sandal. The price is a reassuring $615, which includes: one two-inch cork sole, one four-and-a-half-inch cork heel, one black suede-on-leather vamp and one ankle strap with Velcro closure, joined to the sole by two suede-on-leather strips. The shoe extends the silhouette of Chanel's lower hemlines, which can look dowdy with flat shoes. The look is monumental, even architectural. The ground floor presents massed forms that look like pitted sandstone. The second story elaborates a sophisticated line that plays off against the bulk below. The shoe is paradoxical. It overturns the meaning of the sandal, a creature of sunlight and fresh air, but here enlisted into sinister nighttime service. The sole is bulky but lightweight, a natural, untreated material put to the uses of artifice. The woman who stands atop the Chanel pedestal sacrifices movement for display, action for adoration. WHY: With its elegant ankle harness, the Chanel sandal presents the foot as a beautiful slave. The shoe fits like a horse's bridle.