Haute Couture Shows AW16/17 - Paris

Couture shows are mesmerising, they emphasis the skill involved with making exclusive custom fitted clothing thats constructed by hand from start to finish. Since I've been hand making leather products - be it shoes or bags I've noticed that the process is more or less the same as clothing. They essentially use the same technique in that they start from a pattern taken from the shape of a body and then made from a selected fabric because of its qualities. With footwear, measurements are taken from the foot (well certainly in bespoke footwear) or a last and the design is drawn onto of the masking tape (the masking tape covers the whole last) until eventually the masking tape is cut out and placed flat on a piece of paper and cut out to make the pattern, which is then (yep you guessed it) placed on the leather or the chosen material to be cut out. The couture shows don't only pay attention to the clothing, the shoes are just as much part of the package and so far I have been extremely impressed, so I leave you with just a few that have stood out to me so far!

Alberta Ferretti

Alberta Ferretti

Chanel

Christian Dior

Christian Dior
Giambattista Valli

Giambattista Valli

Valentino

Lineapelle - Trade Fair



The footwear event of the year for London - Lineapelle, was my first time at this type of trade show yesterday; hosted at the quirky and full of character, Ham Yard Hotel. Almost every footwear designer would have attended this expo at some point of their career, whether it was in Bologna or Paris. The trade fair had conferences running through out the day and had three rooms full of leather traders from Italy - some of the best quality leathers I have ever seen. They also offered an array of fixings/fittings for footwear and leather accessories with studs in different shapes, colour and sizes which were beyond divine! For budding designers and shoe makers this was the place to gain as much knowledge and understanding about the forthcoming trends of next season. so for those of you that missed out (for the next trade show in London ill try and give you a heads up!) here are some shots of the slides at the conference and a little round up of the moods and colours that were depicted for  summer '17.


1)

Contemporary pop (think pop art and you are on to a winner!), digital colour world, an ethno (ethnic) - pop approach that mixes cultures and their colours, comic books and video games. 







2)

Think of the mood and colours relating to the Mad Max theme, sand, metals rusting surfaces, neutral colours that have a dark mood.






3) 

The tones of meditation, pastels, well being, light and airy tonals and lots of pale pinks and pastel greens.










The World Goes Pop 
Exhibition Review





Saturday I was treated to a lovely surprise day out by my boyfriend (I had no idea what I had done to deserve it!), the first stop was to the Tate (YESSSSSS!!), to see the World Goes POP. As luck would have it, we managed to catch the exhibition on its penultimate day, so of course it was busy with the last few stragglers trying to catch a view of some of the most famous Pop art pieces in the world. Each room had one wall covered in a bright colour with the art as the centre piece, in some ways the pieces came across almost surrealist even though they came under the Pop art movement, because the art works featured a lot of obscure and randomly placed items, but with the issue of mass popular culture at the forefront. The boyfriend and I were disappointed that the exhibition came to and end so soon but the gorgeous view of St Pauls at the gallery exit made it all the better, naturally we went out on to the viewing platform to take advantage of the view. Reflecting on the exhibition we headed over the millennium bridge to grab some lunch and it dawned on me, Charlotte Olympia had designed a pair of shoes with lead pop art artist Roy Lichtensteins painting on them, now while they aren't exactly my cup of tea it shows just how influential art can be, which is the main reason I visit so many exhibitions.

Charlotte Olympia Pop Art Shoes










Later we headed home where I was told to get dressed up for dinner. So dress and heels in tow (yes I know a dress in this kind of weather!) we headed out and had a lovely dinner at the Northall in the Corintha Hotel near Embankment station, the food was exquisite and the Hotel itself was decadent and beautifully fitted out, after the dinner we made our way to the bar where there was a lovely live singer with her pianist in a dim lit room - the perfect end to the night.









Zara and Primark Shoe Haul



Watch a little run down of the shoes I bought at the Zara Sale and a pair of bonus leather boots from Primark for just £10 here!
Sandra Plantos





Thinking outside of the box is where I'm going with todays post. You are probably on this blog because you have a love for shoes, and as you can probably agree when it comes to shoes, even though they can vary in style massively, ultimately they're all designed essentially with the same components. The obsession comes in when a shoe is designed with a new way of thinking, Sophia Webster reigned last year with a new aesthetic, hailing from cordwainers like most of the high end designers we admire. Sandra Plantos another footwear designer completing her masters at London College of Fashion, has designed a completely original collection, using her Architecture degree as inspiration, but I can assure you, they won't be anything like your imagining. Plantos has put a heavier emphasis on the construction of the shoe, whereby the use of concrete rebar (reinforcing steel) and plywood are the only materials used in this collection reflecting her architecture degree. For me they're conceptual pieces of art work since the construction inhibits movement, but this all underpins what Plantos had originally set out to do; create a new concept of footwear, to aid slowing down the pace of our daily routines. If this collection is any thing to go by we will be in for a treat with future collections.







Inspo for Shoe Clip DIY







I have been promising to do this post for ages now and I thought what better way to do it then using Pinterest...My name is Kiren Modi and I'm addicted to pinterest! I started using it around 5 years ago and then it was more of a place to get cool ideas down to remember them so I could go home and show my family all the great things I had seen. Now days I use it as place for inspiration and since starting up my new brand I find my self constantly searching for new things to look at. I have started using new boards for all the new projects I'm thinking of doing this year. Shoe Clips is one of them. So today I leave you with some inspiration. Comment below this post by mentioning the ones you like (or if you have any other ideas on what you would like to see as a shoe clip) and I can set about getting a DIY post ready for you!

Made by Kiren Modi pinterest board

High Heels High Hopes pinterest board

Maud Frizon




Ever since receiving the Manolo Blahnik book for christmas I have been addicted to vintage shoes. The book is filled with pages of shoes that are now classed as vintage shoes, simply because they are 20+ years. I love looking at them for inspiration because it makes me wonder how designers maintained the appearance of the shoe yet still look so modern. A designer I recently came across (from my shoe calendar) Maud Frizon really had a way of encapsulating the fashion of her time. After doing some research on her I found  our paths weren't so dissimilar. She used to model for some pretty major brands and decided that footwear was her calling because she didn't like the variety of shoes that were available to the models at the time. (in those times models had to wear their own shoes and do their own makeup and were only supplied the clothes that they were modelling in) The Frizon archive for vintage shoe imagery is pretty small, I have searched high and low and it was only yesterday I managed to land on a pair of her shoes that I absolutely adored. So today, she is not only the designer review post but the Shoe of the Week post too. Frizon, hailing from Paris of course had fashion in her bones, the epitome of class she created a range of shoes that depicted her unique character and her love for fashion. Ive had to dig deep for some amazing shoe shots. The ironic thing is that I couldn't have come across her range at a better time. The style of shoe  she regularly used had high enclosures around the foot like much of the fashion around at that time and it  almost became her familiar signature style. This style of shoe has recently graced the catwalks (last AW16) - fashion always goes in cycles and it just so happens to be reoccurring now. To this day the business still runs in paris with very similar designs. They seem to be going through some rebranding so I'm excited to see whats in store for us. I have put the links to the website and social media outlets below the images.