Between outfitting celebrities like Beyoncé and Lady Gaga and prepping his new snakeskin-forward footwear collection, Boston-based shoe designer Thom Solo is a busy man. But he recently took time out to talk about his new drop, which features five fresh versions of his popular Opera Platform and six thigh-high styles.

Lady Gaga has recently been wearing the Opera look for press engagements around her “Mayhem” album and accompanying tour. “It’s definitely become the brand’s go-to favorite. It’s kind of our leader in terms of everything,” Solo said.

The style is known for its daring silhouette that emphasizes dramatic curves — a pointed toe juts forward above a hefty platform, and a towering heel flares in an hourglass-like shape. But don’t let the height fool you into thinking it’s unwearable.

“The shoe obviously looks intimidating, but I spent six months alone on just perfecting the pitch so that when you put it on, it didn’t feel like you were going skiing,” Solo quipped. “Being a man in the space, it’s so important when designing for women, not only being able to create something beautiful and stylish, but also super comfortable. So there was a really long period of having the padding done correctly, reworking that, working on the pitch, the proportions of heel height to platform ratio, just everything.”

Now the Opera is getting the reptilian treatment with an earthy brown colorway and a green option. The style is also taking on new forms with boot versions, including the knee-high runway boot and a ruched thigh-high option. Solo explained the ethos of his new creations and the evolution that led to it.

“Originally, when we launched the Opera, it [was about] cyber-kinetic energy, a real structural moment,” he shared. “And as we’re moving into act two, this is more of this primal energy, with these transformative colorways, the material choices, it’s a little more ferocity-based. And with act three, we’re actually going to be taking both narratives and kind of combining them, creating this office siren energy, which is this powerful female heroine essentially with these pieces of armor taking over a patriarchal space.”

Solo is keen to remember who he’s creating shoes for, and he keeps his ears to his customers.

He told FN, “In terms of personal inspiration, I would say I have an audience of women, and predominantly, my biggest clientele is women of color, and I am so grateful for that, and wouldn’t have it any other way. And really kind of listening to them in terms of what is being wanted and to
be included in fashion with certain material choices, that’s kind of where a lot of inspirations come from.”

Solo has also created a speciality, custom order collection in partnership with Disco Daddy, who’s added flair to many of Lady Gaga’s Mayhem Ball tour shoes. The collaboration harkens back to one of Solo’s original collections called Suburban Bloodbath, and leans fully into a camp aesthetic with florals, rhinestones and platforms.

On the celebrity front, in addition to providing shoes for Lady Gaga, with whom he has a relationship dating back to 2013, Solo made a custom pair of boots for Beyoncé to wear during her Cowboy Carter tour. Performing in London in June, she showcased the thigh-high Rodeo Queen style in black nappa leather adorned with hand-applied silver and gold leafed hardware. A similar silhouette without embellishments can be found in the Cuban Thigh-High style, a more unisex look than other Thom Solo designs.

On dressing Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, Solo said, “I was raised by a single mom and a wonderful community of women and women in media. Women in music have built my DNA not only a queer person but also as an artist. Getting their seal of approval, I mean, there’s literally nothing better. It’s just dreams coming true.”

But it’s not just celebrities who can access his bespoke creations. Solo, who previously made custom pieces then transitioned to ready-to-wear amid the pandemic, is getting back into bespoke orders and opening it up to anyone with the public launch of Thom Solo Atelier this season. This endeavor will allow customers to request made-to-order shoe designs through two different avenues: reinterpreting a core silhouette or creating something never-before-seen.

Kenneth Loo, co-founder and CEO of Chapter 2 Agency, which has partnered with the designer for PR, explained, “If you want to take the Opera and you want to add colors, you want to add skins, or you want to add some sort of detail to it, the same way that he’s done with Disco Daddy, that ability is there. And then the other side of it will be the ability to access what Beyoncé was able to access, which is like: you have an idea, you come to us, you have a moment. It becomes a collaborative moment between him and a client to create something very special.”

The designer will be balancing his custom projects and his ready-to-wear products. Not to mention, this new collection expanding upon the Opera is just the “appetizer,” teased Solo, with more striking styles to come in 2026.