Major Studio Interface: Product Redesign

For the product-redesign assignment I chose to study the modern day high-heel. A major issue that I considered for the high-heels was that people tend to sacrifice comfort for fashion. They may be aesthetically appealing but for the most part high-heels cause serious foot problems and the pain can spread to the rest of the body and can even affect a person's posture. At the beginning of the study I researched the function and purpose of high-heels throughout history dating all the way back to ancient China. These are some images and notes that I put together in my sketchbooks for the product redesign analysis.

Design questions I asked included :
Why are women continuing to purchase and wear high-heels despite health warnings?
How can the high-heel be redesign to be more comfortable and better for your feet, but still retain the aesthetic appeal that attracts people to them in the first place?