Gold Acid Splash Leather Sliders

So I've embarked upon this weeks shoe making project with some trouble simply because sometimes i have to wear flats but i love designing and making high heels. So designing and sketching became challenge especially when the profile of the design is so different. I have decided to go for sliders, since they are so in at the moment, and have also opted for thick straps that cross over because the leather is a such a shoe off piece. I have only got as far as designing and making patterns for this project and since this is a simple design Im hoping to have this made and finished by Thursday so stay tuned for the finished pair for Mondays post!

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.

W - www.maudfrizon.com

F - Maud Frizon

T - @Maudfrizon

I - @maudfrizon

Designing

Since I've started my adventure into the footwear industry everything has become about inspiration - how a shoe is made and the leather and finishings used. Generally when I get into design mode I tend to flick through magazines, print off screenshots from my phone or scroll through Pinterest. I get everything down onto a massive A1 board to get all my inspiration and thoughts in one place and start designing from there. However when I went about designing yesterday I already knew what I wanted, it was more about making a mock up and experimenting. I used scrap leather that I had to make up just the right foot so that I could get a sense of the heel height and look. (I have a completely different colour of suede for the final pair in mind, which will take searching for but I was quite taken by the khaki colour by the end of it!) I documented the design process yesterday by taking photos on my phone and camera so I'm sorry for the change in quality of the images. Keep an eye open for the finished pair soon!