Minimal Grill Platform Chelsea Boots — Henna/Clear, Size US 11 / EU 44

Rick Owens has spent two decades building footwear that changes how the wearer stands, and the grill platform is the most recognisable piece of that work: a thick sole whose front edge is ridged like the grille of a car, set under boots, sandals and heels across his men's and women's collections. The Minimal Grill is the pared-down version. It keeps the ridged platform and the tall heel but strips the upper back to a plain Chelsea boot, so the sole does all the talking. This pair comes from the men's Spring/Summer 2024 season, in Henna, a warm reddish brown, rather than the house's usual black.

The upper is smooth leather cut as a clean Chelsea, with tonal elastic gussets at each side, a pull tab at the back and a squared toe. The platform is wrapped in matching leather, and its front edge carries the ridged grill that gives the style its name. The heel is a clear block, so from the side the boot appears to stand on nothing, and underneath, the leather sole is stamped Vero Cuoio. Made in Italy.

Read it as a Chelsea boot rebuilt as stagewear: the most conservative boot in menswear, raised several inches and set on a transparent heel. In Henna rather than black it reads warmer and more seventies, closer to glam rock than to Owens' usual gothic register. Size EU 44 (US 11).