Nicholas Kirkwood makes shoes that are fantastical, vertiginous, and sculptural. And yet his ultimate pet peeve is seeing a girl struggling in heels.

The designer confessed in an interview with Harrods, 'I hate seeing girls struggling along the street in high heels, trying to make it to the front door of the nightclub. Don't just wear sneakers all day and then put on heels once a week and expect to look confident.'

But unlike Christian Louboutin who is quoted as saying that he does not design shoes to be comfortable, Kirkwood insists that he doesn't get any pleasure out of making women suffer: 'Some girls will prioritise aesthetics over comfort and some shoes are literally cab-to-red-carpet affairs. There are things I do to make the shoe more comfortable though, I'm not a torturer!'

But what is interesting to read is how Kirkwood feels that the fashion shoe industry is progressing he feels that 'shoes are coming down in height, a refined silhouette is emerging with more of a late '90s feeling Interestingly, shapes are becoming sleeker but it's the fabric and material that's becoming more adventurous.'

See what happened when ELLE met Nicholas Kirkwood

Read the full Harrods interview with Nicholas Kirkwood here