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Towering stilettos may be the height of fashion – but coping with the pain and discomfort they cause can be a tall order, as millions of women will testify.
穿上細高跟鞋可謂登上時尚的頂峰了——但數百萬女同胞們可以證明，要忍受穿上它的疼痛與不適太難了。
Now, though, one entrepreneur claims she has finally found the formula for high heels that are as comfortable as trainers.
盡管如此，如今一家公司聲稱他們終于找到了高跟鞋設計的最佳方案，穿上它就和穿運動鞋一樣舒適。
Dolly Singh, a former executive with a US space transport company, called on experts including a rocket scientist, an astronaut and an orthopaedic surgeon to help her create the ultimate comfy heels using hi-tech plastics.
多莉·辛格（Dolly Singh）是一名美國宇航運輸公司的前總監。她召集了包括一名火箭科學家、一名宇航員和一名矯形外科醫生在內的專家團隊，來協助她設計出這雙高科技塑料制成的終極舒適的高跟鞋。
Ms Singh managed to convince the scientists to tackle it as a 'serious engineering problem' and their first pair of stilettoes is due to go on sale in a few months' time.
辛格女士成功說服這些科學家把其當成一個"嚴肅的工程問題"。他們研制出來的第一款細高跟鞋將在未來幾個月開售。
Unlike traditional stilettoes, which are based on a metal foot plate and rod for a heel, the Thesis Couture shoes are made of high-tech plastics and polymers.
與金屬鞋底、鞋跟的傳統高跟鞋不同，這款Thesis Couture高跟鞋是由高科技塑料和高分子聚合物制成的。
Designed to distribute the wearer's body weight from heel to toe, aerospace-grade foams in the sole reduce the impact of each step on the foot by up to 50 per cent.
該設計將身體的重量從腳跟分散到腳趾，鞋底運用宇航級別的泡沫減少走路給腳帶來的一半壓力。
But such functional fashion does come at a price – up to 600 a pair, to be precise.
但是這種功能性的時尚女鞋售價，準確地說來，每雙至少600英鎊。
The first shoes, with heels around three inches high, are expected to go on sale in the autumn.
第一款鞋子的鞋跟有3英寸之高，預計在今秋開售。
Ms Singh admits they will not have exactly the same feeling as 'tennis shoes', but believes women will find them dramatically more comfortable.
辛格女士承認鞋子不可能穿起來完全像雙"網球鞋"，但女士們會發現它們好穿得不敢想象。
She said: 'It's really important for comfortable and sexy to work together.'
她說："舒適和性感兼得很重要。"
Ms Singh formed Thesis Couture after convincing scientists to treat the 'fluffy' subject as a 'serious engineering problem'.
辛格女士在說服科學家把"消遣"的東西當作"嚴肅的工程問題"后造出了這款Thesis Couture鞋。
'The key was to make it an interesting problem in their language,' Ms Singh said.
"關鍵是要化為他們感興趣的課題，"辛格女士說道。
'Asking them to design a high heel isn't interesting. But asking them to design a structure that supports a secondary structure, which is dynamic and has a 180-degree range of motion and happens to be a human body? That's interesting.
"要是請他們設計一雙高跟鞋并不吸引他們。但是要是問他們設計一種支撐第二層結構的構造、要靈動、有180度的移動范圍，且支撐的恰好是個人體結構？那就有意思了。
'I had to make them see it not as a fluffy problem, but as a serious engineering problem.'
"我得讓他們認為這不是消遣的事，而是個嚴肅的工程問題。"
Her team included British orthopaedic surgeon Andy Goldberg, a virtual reality firm and a 'fashion technologist'.
她的團隊包括一名英國矯形外科醫生安迪·戈德堡(Andy Goldberg)、一個虛擬現實公司，以及一個"時尚設計師"。
The shoe's structure will be made in Singapore, with its exterior crafted in Italy and Brazil.
鞋子的框架將在新加坡完成，而外殼是在意大利和巴西完成。
'I've loved high heels ever since I was young, but as I got older I began to love them less.
"我年輕時就愛高跟鞋，但隨著年齡增長，我就沒那么喜歡穿高跟鞋了。"
'I found myself in a position where I had two choices: I could either downgrade my shoes and have uglier shoes, or I could keep wearing my really pretty shoes and I would end up with ugly, deformed feet.
"我覺得我有兩個選擇：要么選擇矮跟的丑鞋，要么繼續穿美美的鞋，然后有一雙丑陋變形的腳。"
'It got to a point that this became an important enough problem in my life where I thought don't complain, do something.
"我后來意識到這是我人生中的一個重要問題，不能只抱怨，要有解決方法。"
'Millions of women for hundreds of years have been wearing the same crappy internal architecture for a long time, so it takes an outside force to prioritise and say actually consumers will reward this and will think it's important if we create it.'
"數百萬女性們幾百年來長期穿著一樣蹩腳的內部構造，因此需要外力的推動才能讓人們重視這個問題。如果我們造出了這樣的鞋子，顧客們會真心感激的。"
The skeleton of the shoes are due to be manufactured in Singapore and the fashionable outer skin made in Italy and Brazil.
鞋子的框架將在新加坡制造，而時尚的外觀會在意大利和巴西完成。
Initially, 1,500 limited edition pairs will be sold in the autumn for 610, with each numbered and signed by a guest fashion designer.
在意大利，1500雙限量版高跟鞋將在今年秋天發售，售價為610英鎊。每雙鞋子都有編號，上面還有一名時尚設計顧問的簽名。
A few dozen pairs will also be sent to celebrities and VIPs.
數十雙鞋將會被送到名人和貴賓手中。
Ms Singh said, following the launch, the shoes will be marketed at professional women and pairs will cost between 200 and 600 each.
辛格女士說，首發之后，鞋子將針對職業女性進行營銷。每雙售價為200至600英鎊。
But her ultimate goal is to license the company's technology to other brands.
但她的終極目標是讓公司的這項技術推廣到其它牌子。
'Five years from now I want every high heel on the face of the Earth to be made the way we make them,' Ms Singh said.
"五年后，我想讓地球上所有高跟鞋都按照我們的方式制造。"辛格女士說道。
