Fashion L'amour

Editor’s Note | Shoes @ catwalk shows |

This is a post about shoes on the catwalk.

What about shoes? One may ask. Well, this is about shoes that are given and worn by models during catwalk shows.

Some shoes match the collection, and are made with the same style and colours in mind. Some shoes are simply paired with the collection because they go to together. Some shoe choices are… made however they are made.

What’s my point? Well, if you observe the front row at fashion shows, you may spot some VIPs, some editors, some fashionable people, and more importantly, for some designers, people scribbling on notepads. These could be people just writing down what they like, or what they want to BUY! Which is what i assume every designer would hope for, that their collection is not only well received but SELLS!

Which brings me back to shoes again, don’t worry, i’m close to getting to the point. As soon as the lights dim and catwalk lights get switched on, it’s showtime! The first model comes out, and usually you can hear instant chatter or murmurings and excessive clicking from the photographers end. The volume is higher if the collection is instantly mesmerising. More phones come out and you hear people saying “omg i love it” etc in hushed tones.

However, if the model is struggling to walk, the mood is….. tense. Most people are now staring down instead of up. Praying the model doesn’t fall. Now we are mostly distracted from the clothes and collection on show. As model after model comes out ‘walking funny’… this now becomes the focus of most of our attention. I personally observed two models at Graduate Fashion Week take their shoes off, as it simply became impossible to walk in their shoes.

The point of this whole post is to simply point out the obvious – if you are a designer who has a new collection out, and you wish to show your collection to the world, why o why would you give your models difficult shoes to walk in and distract everyone from the collection?! I’m sure no sensible designer does this on purpose, of course. It may help perhaps, to make sure you know the shoe sizes of every model wearing your designs on the catwalk? And accommodating them accordingly. One of the models who took off their shoes in the middle of the catwalk was because the shoe size was too big, and it just kept coming out with every step. I felt for her. And then got slightly annoyed that she had been given such an ill fitting shoe in the first place. I didn’t remember much of what she wore at all afterwards either. See the problem?!

I assume all designers has some kind of rehearsal before the actual show. If you are one of these designers, and you are rehearsing, and all models are struggling with their shoes… please don’t ignore it. It’ll distract us from admiring all your hard work. Most catwalk shows last 8-12 mins on average. We would hope we spend all that time not worrying about anyone falling over, but focusing on the collection, and it’s beauty.

If you are a shoe designer, and it’s a for a shoe collection… then by all means… don’t let me dissuade you from bringing out the weird and the wonderful on models feet. After all, all shoes hurt to walk in when they are new 🙂

That is all.