The Brooklyn Museum's latest exhibit "Killer Heels" explores fashion’s most provocative accessory. From the high platform 'chopines' of 16th century Italy to the glamorous stilettos on today’s runways and red carpets, the exhibition looks at the high-heeled shoe’s rich and varied history and its enduring place in our popular imagination. As fashion statement, fetish object, instrument of power, and outlet of artistic expression for both the designer and the wearer, throughout the ages the high-heeled shoe has gone through many shifts in style and symbolism. Deadly sharp stilettos, architecturally inspired wedges and platforms, and a number of artfully crafted shoes that defy categorization are featured among the more than 160 historical and contemporary heels on loan from designers, from the renowned Brooklyn Museum costume collection housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and from the Bata Shoe Museum. Designers represented in Killer Heels include Manolo Blahnik, Chanel, Salvatore Ferragamo, Zaha Hadid X United Nude, Iris van Herpen X United Nude, Christian Louboutin, Alexander McQueen, André Perugia, Prada, Elsa Schiaparelli, Noritaka Tatehana, Vivienne Westwood, and Pietro Yantorny. Photo 1: Winde Rienstra. "Bamboo Heel," 2012. Bamboo, glue, plastic cable ties. Photo 2: Roger Vivier. "Virgule Houndstooth," Fall 2014. Calf hair. Photo 3: Chinese Manchu Woman's Shoe, Qing Dynasty, 19th century. Cotton, embroidered satin-weave silk. Photo 4: Walter Steiger. "Unicorn Tayss," Spring 2013. Photo 5: Rem D. Koolhaas. "Eamz," 2004. Photo 6: French Shoes, 1690–1700. Silk, leather. Photo 7: Salvatore Ferragamo (Italian, 1898–1960). Platform Sandal, 1938. Leather, cork. Photo 8: Italian Chopine, 1550–1650. Silk, metal.