Ann Demeulemeester Danny Ankle Boots

Most boots are laced because they need to be. These are laced because the lacing is the point. The wrap runs around the ankle rather than up the front, which changes what the lace is doing: it is not closing a gap, it is drawing a line around the narrowest part of the leg. That is a small idea with a large effect, because it makes the ankle the focus of the whole shoe rather than the toe or the heel. At two and a half centimetres the heel is doing almost nothing, which is deliberate. A higher heel would make this a statement about height; at this height it stays a statement about line.

Footwear is where a house's ideas either survive contact with function or do not. This is the pair that survives, and it is the one we point at when someone asks what the label actually looks like on a person.

The label was founded by Ann Demeulemeester in 1985 and has been designed by Stefano Gallici since 2023. Wrapped and trailing fastenings have been a house motif throughout.

One hundred percent cow leather, made in Italy, in black, on a two and a half centimetre heel.

Leather boots on a low heel size close to true, and the wrap allows real adjustment through the ankle, which helps if your ankle is narrower or fuller than the last assumes. Allow for the leather to relax across the foot with wear, as it will, and not to lengthen, as it will not.

Under the Treze Bootcut Trousers, where the flare falls over the shaft and the lacing shows at the break. With a dress, where the wrap does the most work.

Leather wants brushing more than it wants product, and the laces should be unwrapped rather than stretched over the heel, which is what eventually breaks them. Our care guidance covers leather, including why less conditioning is safer than more.

If this is the one, look also at the Hilla Ankle Boot as the plainer alternative, the Treze Bootcut Trousers to wear them under, and the Via Belt Tote Bag. The rest of what we carry from the house is on the Ann Demeulemeester page.