My article about Manolo’s fabulous collaborations is up on JC. Check it out:

“Manolo Blahnik is walking the edge for autumn/winter ‘08-’09. While he has collaborated with designers from Ossie Clark to Perry Ellis and Cerruti in the past, this year he walks the line with Thakoon, Christopher Kane, Rag & Bone and Alexander Wang.

As a design innovator who never alienates his core luxury consumer, Blahnik’s collaborations reveal fresh looks. The master cobbler’s well-honed shoe knowledge is revitalized by each wave of fresh inspiration, resulting in innovative lasts and details: for Alexander Wang he uncovers hard edges with a peep toe and gladiator ankle cage; the Satine for Christopher Kane reveals rich, deep hues in a luxe satin; and, for Thakoon, he emphasizes femininity through scalloped details on a black-and-white palette.

Step lively, now.”

So my feature on Jerome is up on JCREPORT, check it out.

Jerome and I had such a wonderful afternoon in his amazing LA studio which is on a tidal lagoon. As you’ll see from my pictures, he collects shoes by Swear and has a bird named Malibu who is quite charming. Remember this new shoe word: ANKLE SCALLOP.

Enjoy,
xo
Meg

Amour Proper: Rousseau’s Sensuous Shoes
April 30th, 2008 - Los Angeles
Astutely balancing innovation, luxury and silhouette, shoe designer Jerome Rousseau has quickly insinuated himself into the footwear landscape with a strong first collection. Rousseau’s influences range from the geometric paintings of avant-garde Ukrainian artist Kazimir Malevich to the 1978 erotic horror film Eyes of Laura Mars, and his love of balanced forms and obsessive attention to material detail are evident.

While Rousseau’s designs can be playful, they always have an aggressive-chic lurking just beneath the surface. On his pumps, a unique ankle scallop feature cups the heel and elongates the leg, while an ankle bootie incorporates a peekaboo, ruched detail at the back, which uses a carefully chosen patent that crinkles instead of bending stiffly. In another flourish, he chops the classic t-strap profile in two to create a “missing t-strap,” evoking a more modern gladiator silhouette. Material-wise, Rousseau works in metallic blue, black, chocolate and pumpkin suede and leather, adding details in metallic and studied matte Karung aquatic snakeskin (which is not on the endangered species list like so many exotics).

Rousseau trained at Cordwainers College in London before working for a variety of design luminaries including Alexander McQueen, Isabella Fiore and John Richmond, and the relationships he developed have paid off well in his solo endeavor. Rousseau’s connections enabled him to enlist a factory outside of Tuscany that produces for a number of blue-chip houses in the industry. On the sales side, his line is already exceeding projections for 2008, with orders from Fred Segal Feet in Los Angeles (who bought an unheard-of nine styles in the Fall collection), Harvey Nichols in Dubai and Mahna Mahna in Tokyo.

For his forthcoming Spring 2009 collection, Rousseau’s designs span the range from Moulin Rouge-esque citron pumps trimmed in black to gorgeous sea-green stilettos with floppy grosgrain bows. Happily, his designs also demonstrate a keen focus on ensuring the wearer’s comfort through the use of additional padding and attention to balance—even in the five-inch stilettos he has planned.

Rousseau may also be the first shoe designer to have his work figure prominently in a major motion picture—maverick director Terry Gilliam was so taken with the designs that he’s using them as set pieces in his upcoming film, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, starring Johnny Depp and Lily Cole. In the shoe scene, the pair dance, twirling amid 30-foot replicas of Rousseau’s creations in a veritable stiletto heaven.

From JCREPORT:

“Get A Leg Up With Falke
April 17th, 2008 - Germany

The brand’s signature process and materials are unparalleled; more than 30 pairs of experienced hands touch each pair of socks, all of which are hand-bound, leaving virtually no seaming on the toe, and the range is constructed out of fabrics typically reserved for top quality men’s outerwear, such as multi-thread Chinese cashmere, Super 150 Australian Merino, pure Japanese silk and Fil d’Ecosse yarn. With all this attention to each and every thread, Falke’s tights and stockings are a truly sumptuous and sensual experence—one that might even convince you to stop going bare-legged this summer. . . “

Read the rest of the story here.

“From his exhibition at the FIT museum to the cult status of his skin-like boots among Manhattan’s style-obsessed to his new collection for One&Only Resorts, Christian Louboutin continues his bid for worldwide shoe domination.

Joining the ranks of Matthew Williamson, Anya Hindmarch and Alice Temperley, Louboutin is adding a line of espadrilles to the fashion mix at the luxury resorts. Ranging from a 12-cm mule wedge with straps of Indian ribbon laced with gold threading, to a 7-cm version in bright two-tone grosgrain ribbon, to a flat espadrille sandal with ankle ribbons, the shoes add a pop of color to the style collection, while the signature red soles lend a stamp of high-fashion authenticity. A must-have for in-the-know travelers seeking a chic alternative to the flip-flop.”

Inspired by her Uzbek grandmother’s indomitable strength and 1930s glamour, Cheyenne Morris, the designer of luxury shoe line Tashkent—named after the capital city of Uzbekistan—is giving the shoe landscape a distinctive new silhouette.

While she majored in sculpture at the School of Visual Arts, Morris used her local cobbler’s equipment in her off-hours to create handmade, one-of-a-kind shoe creations when she was just 19. She refined her designs quickly, and just a few years later, Morris manufactured two seasons of her own line which sold to stores like Scoop and Tracey Ross.

Read the rest of the article here.

My interview with Giuseppe is up on JCREPORT. I had such a wonderful time meeting the master himself, he was just as creative and brilliant as you would imagine him to be and I came away totally inspired about life.  

At the end of the interview for JC, I asked, “Giuseppe, if you were to choose a shoe for me from your showroom what would it be?”  He sat quietly for a moment, and then he started talking, in Italian, very quickly . . . “it is summer, you are in a long silk dress, Giambattista Valli, black or charcoal, long and silk, delicately made, you don’t see the shoe, you just see a flash of color, ” then he got up and walked across the showroom to bring me a gorgeous knotted, royal purple silk stiletto mule, “to step in a silk shoe is almost like going barefoot, there are no constrictions with this shoe, you are loose, free.”  

And that my friends, is a true shoe prescription.

Read what he had to say about his inspiration, what it means to be Made in Italy and all about women and mood and shoes.

“JC Report (me): Where you do find inspiration for your line?

Giuseppe Zanotti: I try to understand the woman’s sensibility. Inspiration for the collection could come from many different places—simple pictures from Italian photographs from the ’60s and ’70s. I might be inspired by the mood, the makeup, the atmosphere, the time period, and then I take that and project it into future, like a time machine. I run from the past and the future to the secret women’s wardrobe—every woman lets me into their personal closets. I want to capture their secret desires both in private and everyday life—from shopping to cocktail parties—

to stop and study the little private details in a woman’s life. 

JCR: How did it help to just focus on shoes?

GZ: When I saw others do full collections—lifestyle, home, earrings, etc—this is business, I understand, I like this. But when we talk about shoes, it is a serious job—not many others are doing it at this level. I want to do a fusion of both creativity and production—

the correct way for this time, and then also the future. Timeless designs not for the fashion, but for a woman’s wardrobe forever. My mission is to do shoes and stay focused on that, to understand what I can do more for my women. I need to study more in shoes. Do I want to jump into another thing? No. I want to learn more about shoes, learn about myself and my identity. I do not want to outpace my company.

JCR: What’s your favorite new store?

GZ: Fifteen years ago, thinking about stores, [I] thought about different markets—it was very difficult—

NYC, London, Milan, Tokyo, we created the same store, atmosphere and mood across the globe, but the NYC Madison store and Sloane Street in London… there are more elements that are close to me from the studio in those stores because there is a bit more room.

JCR: How has Hollywood had an impact on your business?

GZ: Rock stars love to wear something more unique, sexy, sophisticated, super-crazy for the Grammys and for videos and concerts—

super-crazy but super-classy. Sometimes sweet, sometimes aggressive. ” Read the entire interview here.

My latest disptach from JCREPORT:“The London-based footwear line SWEAR, known for its impeccably cool sneakers and men’s casual shoes, is cooking up a host of exclusive collaborations for s/s ‘08. Tonight the brand’s Carnaby Street store will host the launch of their collaboration with Hummel on a line of hi- and low-tops in metallics and patent leather that melds the Danish sportswear label’s double arrow logo with SWEAR’s signature styling. Alongside Hummel, SWEAR is also launching exclusive collaborations with esteemed brand Fred Perry, streetwear label Cassette Playa, English clothing label DIE and graffiti artist Best One. SWEAR has single-handedly been responsible for changing the men’s footwear silhouette, inspiring Chuck Taylor-wearing rock stars and cutting-edge designers alike to embrace their pointed-toe, streamlined Creepers rockabilly aesthetic. These are shoes everyone from The Clash to Matthew Williamson would feel sexy in, and the new collaborations are no exception with bold color palettes and carefully tailored constructions. For women, the pumps and boots offerings are still evolving, but their unisex styles and even men’s work well for women demanding a chic, tailored twist to their usual trainers.“

Check out my latest article on the new, fabulous, re-launched JCREPORT. I’ll be writing frequent trend reports for them and am very excited to say, interviewed one of my shoe idols, Giuseppe Zanotti for the Shoes issue coming out in April. In the meantime, check out what I had to say about texture for Spring and Fall.

“Time for Texture
Shoes, an accessory category showing explosive growth in all directions, continue to be a platform for innovation, with texture as a major theme moving into Spring and Fall. Diego Dolcini’s truly skin-like ballet flats of printed suede with a sophisticated gloss treatment take the meaning of supple to another dimension, while Christian Louboutin’s painted python stilettos layer snakeskin with bright pops of fluorescent color worked into the material to create a 3-D effect.

Always the innovator, Giuseppe Zanotti uses texture in intricate heel treatments for Fall—sculptural pewter winds its way up the heel in an ornate branch-like pattern and cameos are inset in the heart of the stiletto heel. Slip on a pair of these, and even as you’re walking away, you can’t help but make a statement.”