December 28, 2011 |
“Shoes! Amazing shoes! So goooood! Brilliant. Love ’em!” That’s her upstairs. The Greek one. Nothing gets her off quite like a heel. The object of her ecstatic squeals? Burak Uyan. Remember that name. Ever since she spied his shoes, back in March at the Milan shows, she hasn’t shut up. Burak this. Burak that. When she obsesses, it usually means great things ahead. “We should do a page,” she said. “Ask him some questions. Maybe put a shoe on it. Action it, babes.”
Good shoe design is all about…
“Comfort, sensuality and uncompromised design.”
What’s your earliest shoe-related memory?
“Cinderella’s glass slipper and all that came with it.”
What makes the perfect capsule shoe wardrobe? What should you never be without?
“That one heel that you splurged on, and that you take out to wear for those momentous occasions.”
How important is balance? And heel height? Do you test all your prototypes personally? Sashay, shante round the factory?
“Balance is extremely important. It needs the perfect proportion between heel and platform. It is also important that that woman has the balance and confidence to walk in them. I personally don’t test the shoes, but I do work closely with my artisans every step of the way and leave the pleasure of testing them to my fit model.”
We’ve heard Anna Dello Russo’s a fan. Even spied her in a pair. When she gets papped, do sales soar?
“Well, yes. She is, after all, Anna Dello Russo, the fashion-forward connoisseur of shoes… ”
Are you blessed with the Midas touch, shoewise?
“I would like to think so… As well as Hercules’ 12 labours.”
She’s going to cocktails on a yacht – does she take off her shoes or miss the party?
“Nobody would dare ask her to take her shoes off, especially not these… Plus I have a feeling she wouldn’t anyway.”
Your shoes are shoes of power, no? Not for the meek. Does your wearer growl with pleasure when she tries them on?
“Absolutely, but my shoes also give the modest woman the inspiration to take a leap and try on something she would have never dared to before. Once she slips them on, her whimper turns into a growl.”
The higher the heel, the greater the power?
“Well, power comes from within. Having said that, the heel does inspire boldness and a striving for greater power… ”
Shoes…
“Are a girl’s best friend.”
by Natalie Dembinska
