That Crazy Balenciaga Shoe

In today's world, the fashion designer has to be something of a mad genius in order to come up with the wild and ground-breaking designs that celebrities wear daily. Designers, like Balenciaga, who update the newly revamped gladiator shoe trend are no different. The fashion house at Balenciaga is leading the way.

Rather then sticking to basic flats and strappy sandals, these fashion mavens have added heels, sequins, studs, braiding and major, major height.

Still, it looks like celebs are biting into the hip look quite ferociously.

Here are some of Balenciaga's crazy designer shoes and the risk-taking celebs that wear them.

First, a little background:

Gladiator sandals of the female variety are inspired by the power flats worn by men in the Roman era. Some sandals went as high as the knee in order to give the warrior a clean fit and a wide range of motion.

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In his Spring 2008 show, Balenciaga's take on the teetering trend  played off that combat theme, using the sandals as a kind of black-and-white armor to guard those fierce females. Then he added a heel.

Here are the fashion house's craziest versions:

Braided Pink Leather Gladiator Sandal

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Worn By: Nicole Richie

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Hmmm, can we say tribal chic? These braided strap-happy lads look like something straight out of the jungle. Quite bamboo-esque. But don't go trekkin' into the forest with these pink leather bombshells just yet. At four inches and $1375 a pop, you'll fall flat on your face.

PS:  If you're gonna go simple, Nicole, might as well do it all the way. No need to umph it up with these pretty things. Enough is enough.

Spring/Summer 2008 Black-and-White Gladiator Heels

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Worn By: Jennifer Connelly

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If you hadn't already noticed, the worst thing about this outfit is not the over-the-top shoes - it's that puffy floral dress. Can I ask you, Jennifer, what were you thinking? OK, so the multi-colored floral print doesn't match the black-and-white heels.  We get that. But did you have to wear such poof?

Olright, back to the shoes. These crazy kittens are Balenciaga signatures and sell at Barneys New York for $700.  Not for faint of heart. But we kinda like "em.

Spring/Summer 2008 Gladiator Boots

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Worn By: Rihanna

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Puzzling. Truly puzzling. If you don't think Jennifer Connelly's black-and-white peepers are enough, why not go for something a little more extravagant. Why not strap yourself into something a little higher, a little edgier, a little…crazy? Even we couldn't believe Rihanna would go as far as parading in these Balenciaga extreme whoppers. But at least she was wearing a solid black number.

Spring 2007 Knee-High Gladiator Sandals

Worn By: Jennifer Lopez

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J.Lo, you've made some not-so-great decisions in life. Wearing those giant floppy hats. White hot pants. Dancing preggers in splashy multicolored Roberto Cavalli while on tour. Can we add these Balenciaga babies to the list? Zip-up front, leather trim. You look sort of dominatrix in this pic, like you could carry a whip. OK, so maybe Marc Anthony will like it - but we don't. Go back to the hot pants.

Lucky for us (or maybe not so lucky, as they're still super pricey) Balenciaga has made a few other versions that are more funky fresh and less fanatical. But they're still a bit on the hyper side.

Blue and Green Gladiator Sandals

Worn By: Sarah Jessica Parker, Heidi Montag, Ashley Olsen

White Studded Gladiators

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Worn By: Lindsay Lohan, Kylie Minogue, Heidi Klum

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