August 22, 2019 |
From East Coast to West, and back – the collaboration between the artsy design duo Eckhaus Latta and Californian heritage surfer brand Ugg is about to make the world’s discussion on beauty just a bit more complex. Originally shown back in February at Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta’s AW19 show during New York Fashion Week, the footwear combining the two worlds instantly made quite an impact. After high-heeled thigh-high Uggs, could anything really make us question the sartorial potential of that notorious noughties shoe choice? Leave it to the bi-coastal masters of subversion to answer this question.
Latta and Eckhaus have a certain knack for making intellectual artistic choices while nurturing their crafty aesthetic – taking things most would consider awkward or even ugly, and creating something visually compelling that we actually want to wear. It’s a special talent, one that has already earned them a solo exhibition at the Whitney and has attracted fans and collaborators in all creative fields. Instead of furthering the divide between L.A. and NYC, Eckhaus Latta find a unique way of merging the two together. That’s exactly why their joining arms with Ugg makes so much sense. The footwear brand has already successfully revived and reinvented its image from the trashy noughties starlets and into the next generation of tomorrow’s talent.
Six months after the show, the collaboration is finally ready to hit the shop floors worldwide. But are you ready? The limited edition collection of Ugg x Eckhaus Latta footwear includes five different styles that can only be described with one word: paradoxical. The star of the show is definitely the Court Mule – a heeled silhouette fully lined in sheepskin with a lamb suede upper. The heel is exposed, as it is in the Court Mule Open Toe – a love child of shearling boots and summer sandals. The third women’s shoe is a Court Not Clog – a mix of all things wrong, ends up looking oh, so right. The two unisex shapes are the Block Boot, a square-tied short boot most reminiscent of the traditional Ugg boot everyone knows, and the Block Slide, a Birkenstock-meets-Ugg-meets-your nan’s slipper kinda shoe. Perhaps a commentary on global warming, these summer-winter hybrids are trans-seasonal gems in its purest form. While Rihanna was one of the first to rock those statement Y/ Project Uggs, it’s the flawless Haim sisters who have already gave the Eckhaus Latta’s ones a spin. And by September 3rd, when the collection launches, we hope to join in too.
Photographs by Zoe Ghertner. The Eckhaus Latta x Ugg shoes will be available from LN-CC in London and online from September 3rd.
