Shoe Gazer

Shoe Designers

GARETH PUGH:

Style.com describes Pugh as the "latest addition to a long tradition of fashion-as-performance-art that stretches back through Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, and Vivienne Westwood to the eighties club culture of Leigh Bowery." Klaus Nomi has also been suggested as an influence on Pugh. Pugh's collections are autobiographical rather than referential, and draw inspiration from Britain's extreme club scene. Pugh's trademark is his experimentation with form and volume. He often uses "nonsensically shaped, wearable sculptures" to "distort the human body almost beyond recognition." Elements in his designs include PVC inflated into voluminous coats, black and white patchwork squares, Perspex discs linked like chain mail, and shiny latex masks and leggings. He has used materials including mink, parachute silk, foam footballs, afro-weave synthetic hair, and electrically charged plastic in his clothing. Pugh describes his designs as being "about the struggle between lightness and darkness."

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN:
Christian Louboutin launched his line of high-end women's shoes in France in 1991. Since 1992, his designs have incorporated the shiny, red-lacquered soles that have become his signature. Louboutin helped bring stilettos back into fashion in the 1990s and 2000s, designing dozens of styles with heel heights of 120mm (4.72 inches) and higher. The designer's professed goal is to “make a woman look sexy, beautiful, to make her legs look as long as [I] can.” While he does offer some lower-heeled styles, Louboutin is generally associated with his dressier eveningwear designs incorporating bejeweled straps, bows, feathers, patent leather and other similar decorative touches. His cut-out designs from the last couple of seasons are stunning and have been some of the most trend setting designs. Here is a selection of his latest shoes:

GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI:
A selection of Zanotti's latest designs:

SERGIO ROSSI:
More and more I am coming to appreciate the style and quality of the Rossi label, now owned by Gucci and designed by Francesco Russo. The quality and craftsmanship of these shoes are amazing - so light, yet so strong.

Sergio Rossi