For all my faults, I am polite. Most of the time. I always say please and thank you, always watch my manners when eating out and always give up my seat on the tube to the pregnant or the elderly.

So it is not unusual for me to hold doors open for people. I do it for ladies and gentlemen alike; the subtle difference is the switch from “after you” to “there you go mate” depending on the gender.

Earlier this month, I was leaving my apartment building and I heard some stilettos following me. I swung the door open and stood aside for the young lady. Except it was actually a guy, well over six feet tall with a beard. And Cuban heels. “How strange,” I internalised. “I thought man heels were the domain of Prince, Nicolas Sarkozy and other such vertically challenged men.”

Well, it seems not. Man heels are in. Marc Hare hinted at the trend and of his man heel obsession late last year on Gentleman’s Corner. And his AW2010 collection is splattered with heeled boots. Check out the Bazin and the Truffaut to see what I mean.

Since my meeting with the guy by the door, I have noticed men of all heights are wearing heels in New York. I’ve been back in the UK a week for a trip and I am yet to see a single pair. My theory is that American men are more accustomed to wearing cowboy boots and are therefore more easily persuaded by heeled Chelsea boots for example.

UK Cosmopolitan magazine (August 2010) has deemed the trend “so wrong” and I am inclined to agree. I was very short as a teenager and didn’t grow until I was 17. I remember considering a heel, but only for a second. I don’t think I could do it. (Incidentally, Cosmo called man heels “meels”. I think that is even more wrong.)

That said, maybe I can be swayed away from fear of ridicule. Hare longs to create man heels that you have to be “half-feminine to be man enough to wear”. Perhaps I just need to get over myself. It would help me get over my neurosis over being half an inch under six feet tall too.

NB - For our readers that haven’t met Mr Hare yet, can you give us a quick summary of your philosophy on shoes?

MH - There are not enough shoes in the world that I like. So I decided to do something about it.

NB - Your background before starting up Mr Hare included owning a surf shop and a fashion boutique in Notting Hill; what inspired you to move into shoes?

MH - I used to sell surfboards, everyone of them handcrafted and unique. A surfboard is all about the shape and the tiny details that make this one loose and that one gun down the line really fast or the other one really forgiving. I have always been fascinated by micro details and always obsessed by how shoes complete an outfit.

I was in a very fortunate position recently where I lost my job as a Marketing Director at a Swedish fashion house. Two days later I dislocated my left knee playing football and a couple of months after that my marriage faded to nothing. It isn’t often that your entire slate wipes itself clean like that. I had carte blanche to do whatever I wanted. I decided it was going to be men’s shoes.

NB - In your opinion, what’s the difference between a really good pair of shoes and a perfect pair?

MH - In my opinion there is no such thing as a perfect pair of shoes. I used to design outdoor gear for Karrimor. Two and three-layer Gore-tex. Polartec fleece. And in the same way you need a certain layering set up for certain conditions: you need certain shoes for certain situations.

I treat my shoes like state alterants. If I am feeling like killing everyone dead I will rock something from my new collection. If I am feeling energetic and need to get a lot done in a day I reach for my Airforce Ones. If I want to move anonymously I will reach for my Chuck Taylor’s. If I feel troublesome, I usually wear Church’s. I guess a really good pair of shoes has the ability to be perfect when called upon to be.

NB - Personally, I’ve got tremendous amount of respect for how you just jumped in and started up Mr Hare. What is one thing that you wish you’d known before you kicked this off?

MH - I wish I had known years ago how much fun it would be. Everyday I get an email from someone, somewhere in the world who has either bought a pair of my shoes or wants to. I only ever used to get that many emails from Viagra dealers.

I have just discovered the joy of bartering. This weekend I swapped a pair of shoes for tickets to see Arsenal v Blackburn at the Emirates. 6-2. Vermaelan, Van Persie, Arshavin, Fabregas, Theo and Bendtner. Six goals, six scorers. How do you put a price on seeing something like that? There’s only one Arsene Wenger!

NB - You’ve told me that the biggest inspiration for your second collection came from different leathers and materials. Can you tell us the story of your favourite leather? Where did it come from and how did you find it?

MH - We all age, have amazing stories that correlate with all the years that have passed. 18-year-old models look incredible but don’t generally have a lot to say. Chesterfield sofas, cricket bats and Lauren Hutton are all much better company and a marvel to look at. So I wanted to make some shoes that were intended to just age beautifully. I explained this to the guys at the factory and said I liked the way that the vegetan leather on Louis Vuitton bags aged like wood and did they know where I could get that same leather. They walked me over to the window and pointed at a big industrial tannery across the way and said, “it comes from there”.

NB - For your first collection, you re-interpreted a few classic styles. I think the Mr Thompson button boot is my favourite. Second place goes to Mr Genet, the slip-on with six tassels a side (for the readers, trust me it works). What style are you most aching to sink your teeth into in the future?

MH - Man heels obsess me right now. Everything from Sarkozy through to Prince. My SS2010 Hot Steppers collection has allowed me to get all that classic men’s shoe stuff out of my system. Very few people have heard of my brand so far and many fewer own a pair of my shoes. While the world is discovering me, I feel I have done enough for conservative shoeists. Now I want to just push the envelope.

I love the way girls can collect shoes every season that are just for that moment in time and inspired by such randomness. I want man shoes that operate in the same way. Serious Bobby dazzlers that you have to be half-feminine to be man enough to wear.

NB - What are your thoughts on the shoe industry as a whole? You once mentioned to me that after doing your first collection, you were surprised there weren’t more great shoes in the market. What did you mean by that?

MH - For my blog, I look at a lot of shoes. I look for other people whose shoes inspire me. I think the proportion of important or interesting shoes for men is about 0.0001% of the shoes in the world. I think that percentage should be higher. All my real shoe dogs know what I’m saying.

NB - At the moment, all your shoes are made with Blake construction in Italy. Will that remain your focus? Or are there other regions and construction techniques you’d like to try out?

MH - You know how famous chefs get to make programmes where they travel round the world learning new dishes? I want to make Mr Hare shoes in all the different constructions in all the different shoe regions of the world. I don’t think I can truly call my self a shoe man until I have done this. Besides, a lot of shoe regions also happen to be close to some really good surf, food, wine and golf. I fucking love my job.

A classic grey, two button suit is a beautiful blank canvas. It’s what you put on the canvas that really matters. And here we have Mr Marc Hare dressing it up in perfect style. The long cream coloured scarf, clean white shirt and pocket square set off the polka dot tie. Which leaves the shoes to pull together the ensemble. A pair of Mr Hare’s own Miller cap toes. I love the combination of mid grey suiting and brown shoes. Very nice Marc.