Fashion bloggers design their ultimate shoe
The latest trend in footwear is not a new shoe design. It’s collaboration between shoe companies and fashion bloggers, who have teamed up to create new looks based on the personal style of the chosen bloggers, reported WWD.
“I would love to continue to seek out more opportunities in the fabulous world of footwear,” Leandra Medine, writer of the blog Man Repeller, told Footwear News in September.
She had just released her first shoe: a limited-edition, flamingo-decorated smoking slipper she designed for Miami-based label Del Toro, which will be available on the company’s website starting December.
Next up: Sixby6, a project in which Medine and five other bloggers have created their ideal shoe for shoe producer Six London, to be featured on e-commerce site Farfetch.com.
Six London
Together with Farfetch.com, Six London has asked Susie Lau of Style Bubble; Steve Salter of Style Salvage; Alix of The Cherry Blossom Girl; Caroline of Carolines Mode; Leandra Medine of the Man Repeller; and Yvan Rodic of Face to craft the “ultimate shoe.”
The result is an eclectic combination of looks, from cukka boots to stilettoes. Priced $328 to $608, the footwear will be sold on Farfetch.com and Six London’s e-commerce site beginning Nov. 22.
“These bloggers have very individual and authoritative views on fashion, and Six [is a] master in execution,” Farfetch founder Jose Neves said in a statement.
Style Bubble’s Lau, who designed a lime-green and lilac platform, considers her addition “a souped-up DIY project that has been facilitated by Six London.”
“I'm thrilled that I get to realize a shoe that probably only will have the desire to wear,” she said. “I don't want people to think I’m making assumptions about being a designer.”
ShoeDazzle
ShoeDazzle is no stranger to celebrity guest designers, having tapped Kristen Bell and Carson Kressley for a charity initiative, ShoeDazzleCares. But now it has also delved into commissioning bloggers, starting with celebrity fashion blogger Perez Hilton and possibly leading to future bloggers’ designs.
Hilton chose to create two styles, a sexy black platform pump and unixsex shiny silver sneaker, to fund the work of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. Both shoes will be sold for $40 during November on ShoeDazzle’s website.
“We decided to work with Perez because he is so influential [in the fashion world],” said ShoeDazzle spokeswoman Kristin Levsky. “We like to partner with people to whom fashion is important, and we liked [Hilton’s] strong voice, platform and sense of style.”
Sebago
Sebago is also employing the blogger strategy. Although all the details have yet to be released, Booji footwear founder MDot Booji informed FN that she is partnering with Sebago to craft a Fall 2012 womenswear line designed by bloggers from major metropolises from New York to Paris.
“Fashion bloggers are exposed to so many products; they tend to have a very critical eye,” Booji said. “They know what they want in a product. They are also bound to take more risks in the development of a product [given that] they're not thinking with a footwear developer mindset. Most important, fashion bloggers have their audience look to them for fashion advice. When a footwear brand brings in a fashion blogger to create a product, they plug into their audience and connect with them.”
Tagged in: footwear, designer, shoes, design, bloggers, fashion bloggers, six london, sebago, shoedazzle,
LadyLUX via ShoeDazzle, WWD
