The Shoe Review

C a m i l l a    E l p h i c k

Elphick's shoes (for me) sit firmly between the quirk of Sophia Webster with very similar hues of pastel colours and the inspiration and influences of Charlotte Olympia which is quite honestly, right up my street. Elphick was mentored and taught by the best while interning and working with the likes of Nicholas Kirkwood, Donna Karan, Paul Andrew and Topshop to name a few. 

So with all of that experience, what better than creating your own eponymous shoe label? launching with her collection for Spring Summer 2015 ‘You got the Luck’ you can see why her debut and graduate collection gained so much recognition and praise. 12 styles are available all inspired by, you guessed it - Luck, all with their own distinctive and catchy names. Below are some of my favourites which are just what you need to brighten up the doom and gloom weather London has had for the last few days. Be aware - they may leaving you felling happy and nostalgic both at the same time!

'Pez Shoe' - (unable to find a stockist for this)

'Clover Heels' - £445 on Avenue 32

'Gold Dust' - £340 at Grazia Shop

'Lucky 7' - £495 on Avenue 32

'Royal Flush'- £460 on Avenue 32

Website

www.camillaelphick.com

Style
12 Styles available

‘Mood- boosting shoes sure to bring you good fortune' - camillaelphick.com

Price

£250 upwards

Stockists UK

graziashop.com
luisaviaroma.com
avenue32.com

Instagram

Camilla Elphick

Twitter

@camillaelphick

Facebook

Camilla Elphick

News

Killer Heels Exhibition - Brooklyn Museum NYC

About a month ago my very thoughtful boyfriend surprised me to a 5 day trip to NYC for my birthday. Anyone that knows me will know just how much I love everything and anything NYC related. Infact one of my dreams would be to eventually move out there. So you can just imagine the ball of tears and shock I was in when he told me at Heathrow departures that we were infact going to NYC and not Rome (which is where I thought we were originally going) Little did I know he had pretty much planned half of the trip with things that I have always wanted to go and see. As fate would have it there just happened to be an exhibition on heels and of course that also got placed on this list. So on day one we headed out early just to do that - the Killer Heels Exhbition at the Brooklyn Museum. (I know girls I’m on to a winner with him!!)

The exhibition was an absolute must see for heel obsessed women. Eastern Parkway is the nearest subway station to the exhibition and takes you practically straight to the front door of Brooklyn Museum. The building itself is beautiful, and just what you would expect of a museum. We paid $15 each, but this was optional. You can pay nothing or as much as you like. The suggested amount at the counter was $16 each.

Brooklyn Museum

The exhibition took you through the ages of the shoe, starting off with the development of the heel through to the present day heel, and just how far they have come in terms of design, conventionalism and pure crazy ideas for heels that can be adapted to look like art work on your feet. The best part of the exhibition was physically looking at a shoe that I had seen in the media but not managed to see in person. The use of visuals and digitial media made the exhibition varied so it wasnt just shoe after shoe which for even a shoe addict like me can get slightly repetitive and dull. There were tiny snippets of recordings throughout the exhibition showing the creative process of a shoe with the designer developing their ideas of a shoe design, designing the ‘last’ that the shoe will be moulded around through to it being put together. This for me was very insightful, I love to watch and follow how other shoe designers develop their work and how they record their work so that I can better mine to.

(Sorry the Images are blurry, the whole exhibition was super dark, so some images I had to take on my phone instead of my SLR and I couldn't use the flash within the exhibition - Typical!)

Architecture and Shoe design was a section of the exhibition that really caught my attention, having an architecture degree I have always noticed a connection between architecture and shoes but was never able to really define what made them so similar untill reading a caption in this particular gallery. It gave my thoughts about the relationship between fashion and architecture some perspective; 

"Architecture and shoe design share some concerns: enclosure and protection; The relationship between structure and facade; and the expressive harmony of solids, voids, and contours. The consideration of stress points, loads, flexion, and achieving elevation makes the comparison even more compelling when it comes to high heels"

sorry its blurry!

I ended up purchasing the 'Killer Heels - The Art of the High Heeled-Shoes' book that was dedicated to the exhibition and set me back around 30$ but when you are a shoe and book collector its pretty hard to turn away especially when you have already flicked through the book. The book features a number of shoes from various designers that were exhibited and some extras just to add to the collection within the book. A good buy if I do say so myself. Most definitely a coffee book but for me a source of inspiration from some of the top footwear designers in the world. 

I was completely seduced by the display of shoes within the exhibition and don't think its confined to just mad shoe lovers either, it makes for pretty light viewing (I went with my boyfriend and even he didn't find it to strenuous to go through) and I would recommend having a visit if you are in NYC.