Last week, led by Yumi Ishikawa, who was forced to wear high heels when she worked in a funeral parlour, a group of Japanese women have signed a petition demanding employers be banned from making women wear heels as part of an enforced dress code. “I currently sit on boards in Japan, Hong Kong and London, and there’s no question that professional dress codes are different around the world,” she says. “In Asia, for example, there is an expectation that women wear skirts or dresses, rather than trouser suits. In my former roles as a newspaper fashion editor and TV fashion correspondent, I revelled in the regular opportunities I had to dress up in exotic footwear. In a world where most of us have become accustomed to the cushioned soles of trainers for everyday wear, women are digging in their heels – even when society still decrees they do otherwise.

Source: The Guardian June 08, 2019 16:30 UTC