Designer Intros: Gina

This once more isn’t much of an intro, Gina have been around for quite some time now. It is however a designer that is quite unique and therefore is very worthwhile to mention. With it’s slightly ostentatious reputation of for producing Swarovski encrusted sandals popular with the Arab oligarchy, Gina is definitely a designer that has a divisive reputation. I’m not one for glitzy shoes all the time and much of my collection are classic styles, however with careful selection I have found Gina have some really appealing shoes.

Gina, but with subtlety.

The style that Gina is often associated with, great for the red carpet however hardly everyday wear.
Image by Garry Knight used under Commons License

Advertisement

Designer Intro: Stuart Weitzman

Recently I purchased my first pair of Stuart Weitzman shoes, I’ve always steered away in the past feeling his designs were a little too conservative for my tastes. Furthermore all his shoes are Made in Spain, as opposed to Italy and at the price they retail at I expected a little gnomish Italian man nailing together pieces of leather in the traditional manner.

Sell out or survival?

Do you like supporting your local independents, small designers, etc? You may find yourself surprised how corporate they actually are. In the world of fashion this is happens more often than you realise, designers will sell their name and subsequently step back from playing a key role. I wonder are they selling out or perhaps they do it out of necessity to survive and expand?

To understand better, it would be useful to have a look at who owns who? Between two luxury power players, Kering, and LVMH, they own over 20 of the worlds biggest luxury fashion brands. During the late 1980s up to the mid 1990s intelligent mergers, aggressive investments combined with ageing founder-designers such as Cristobal Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent opened the door to easy pickings. By the turn of the millenium this put Kering and LVMH in prime position to dominate the luxury sector.

Like most people, Yves Saint Laurent called time in the early 2000s, today completely absorbed into Kering it’s one of it’s key brands and as allowed the name and classic designs like the Paris shoe pictured here to live on

Designer Intro: Schutz

This is a brand that I have only recently come across in one of my forays in TK Maxx. I first saw them about half a year ago, and now are popping up more regularly there. Immediately, the quality of the shoes impressed me, add to that the designs are always really hot and bang on trend.

I picked these up in TK Maxx for £50, they’ve got the rock chic look, but also as tall black boots quite versatile and timeless

My heart is red, not my sole

It might come as a shock to most of you, while being a prolific shoe collector, I own zero pairs of Louboutins. It seems strange, why wouldn’t I have at least one pair penned by the designer du jour in the shoe world. I admire the man, I adore what comes from his pen, but I’ve always had a mental block from buying them. Those red soles seem so unnecessary, they don’t add anything to the shoes design or craftsmanship, if anything it devalues the work that went into the shoe as most people simply gawp at the red soles, and cannot see past the real joy and pleasure of owning and wearing luxury shoes.

We live in the perfect time for luxury shoes, with money tight since the 2008 global recession, fashion has become about strategically deploying luxury investment pieces rather than filling ones wardrobe with high end purchases. There are so many hot designers all over the world, and you’ve already seen a number of my favourite pieces. Most of these are British, but interestingly they’re all made in Italy.

Even Louboutins bear the Made in Italy mark.
Modified and used under Creative Commons License from work by Arroser

Farewell Zaha Hadid

Breaking from the typical post, many of you will have have heard the news of the passing of Zaha Hadid, a remarkable and inspirational lady to dared to push the boundaries and never let conventions and traditions to get in her way. Forgive me those of you who were expecting your weekly fix of designer shoes, but I simply have to pay tribute to such an incredible lady.

Hadid’s achievements are absolutely remarkable, to become a driving force in one of the most male-dominated industries of architecture. Furthermore to apply that creativity elsewhere in the world of design, she has worked on numerout collaborations and influenced countless designers worldwide with her vision and philosophy.

This is the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Despite the controversy around Hadid’s acceptance of this commission, it is my favourite of her works. The curves have become definitive of Hadid’s style.
Image by wilth used under Creative Commons License

Designer Classics: Ferragamo and Roger Vivier

In the series of designer intros I’ve brought to you a some of the 21st century’s exciting designers, this time I’m going to delve into history to explore two legends who revolutionised shoe design, set the precedent for all shoes design since and even today their historic designs look fresh and contemporary.

Just from spending much of his youth watching his local cobbler make shoes, Salvatore Ferragamo’s natural talent allowed him to start producing his designs from the age of nine. His prodigious talent, and incessant thirst for knowledge took him to America the culmination of which was to go study anatomy at the University of Southern California. What he learnt about the way we walk changed the way shoes were produced forever, an innovtion that opened the door to higher and higher shoes.

In 1938 Ferragamo was commissioned to produced shoes for Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz this was amonst other designs which revolutionised the shoe world, and I would argue this shoe wouldn’t look out of place today.
Used undeer Creative Commons License created by Sailko

Designer Intro: Nicholas Kirkwood

This week we look at one of the fastest rising stars of the footwear industry, his blazing trail has seen his brand grow to become part of luxury powerhouse LVMH’s stable within 10 years, working with the likes of Peter Pilotto, and Erdem in recent years, as well as nurturing upcoming talent, Sophia Webster.

Designer Intro: Irregular Choice

Welcome to the psychadelic world of Irregular Choice, the moment you step into their Carnaby Street flagship, and you feel like you’re on an acid trip (yes that does somewhat date me…), you’re plunged into a Wonderland of gnomes, unicorns, and jedis made of every imaginable colour. But it’s all real, you can genuinely have a pair of shoes where the heels are bunny rabbits.

These rabbits are genuinely available to adorn your feet. Aren’t they the cutest?

Founder, designer, and maverick, Dan Sullivan wanted to completely break the rules, go against the establishment, the resulting outlandishness of Irregular Choice shoes means you can make that bold statement without having to go to vertiginous stilettos. The shoes are going to be so loud that many people prefer to tone down the rest of their outfit keeping the shoes as a focal point, equally you can keep in the spirit of Dan and Irregular Choice, and simply wear whatever takes your fancy, the madder the better.

Designer Intro: & Other Stories

How does a brand within three years launch and go to having 31 stores in prime locations such as Regents Street, 5th Avenue and concessions in Printemps? & Other Stories is an interesting brand, if you don’t like big corporates, then you may as well look away now. International powerhouse H&M are the driving force behind them and they have sledgehammered their way into the market.

So it’s not the sexiest shoe in the world, but it’s great to throw to make a slouchy look a little dressier.