April 7, 2010
5FROM CALIFORNIA PROMISES A NEW KIND OF CALIFORNIA DREAMING
By Meghan Cleary

Fifteen years after Rick Owens launched his eponymous knitwear line in Los Angeles, the once style-challenged city has transformed into a fashion mecca. The LA landscape is now dotted with burgeoning talents—such as Endovanera, J Mary, Raquel Allegra, Franklin + Gower—while stores like Church, Zainab and Unholy Matrimony have become boutique tastemakers and big designers increasingly look out West for inspiration. In the midst of this boom, 5From California is a new collective that’s determined to blow LA stereotypes out of the water—on a global scale.

Comprised of Katy Rodriguez, Jenni Kayne, Emily Jerome, Gregory Parkinson and Jerome Rousseau, the group has an independent spirit and edgy approach that will quickly influence the fashion world at large. Longtime friends Rodriguez and Parkinson launched the collective out of a desire for more control over how their collections were presented and sold. Jerome, a designer and recent LA transplant, was introduced to the group by Rodriguez’s muse, Jessica Joffe, while Barney’s Michelle Smoot recommended Rousseau and the group organically grew to include Jenni Kayne. “We love L.A and wanted to include other people we like,” Parkinson explains of the way her brainchild has grown.

For seven days during Paris Fashion Week, 5From California showed in the heart of the Marais at an art gallery called Galerie DIX9. Buyers from Harvey Nichols, Barneys, Le bon Marche and Browns dropped by, along with editors from Vogue, Marie Claire, UK Elle and LUCKY. A subsequent follow-up event was held at LA’s Palihouse, where everyone from WWD to Style.com dropped by for a sneak peek at the designers’ looks for fall.

The members of 5From California represent what is unique about the LA landscape, and, increasingly, its the fashion scene as well—an eclectic combination of music art, international residents, an emphasis on the natural world as well as access to the glitz and glam of Hollywood. “I gather inspiration from various other places and references, but it is here that I get to develop the ideas and concepts that shape my collections,” confesses Rousseau. For Emily Jerome, on the other hand, LA fostered a desire for design: “I felt like I had nothing to wear and couldn’t find exactly what I wanted , so I made my own clothes!”

LA still has a ways to go before becoming a serious fashion capital, but with 5From California and its peers’ flurry of talent and activity, it’s not all that far away.

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Hey guys, thought I would run one of my fave interviews that fabulous writer and cupcake enthusiast Rachel Kramer Bussell wrote a few years ago.

It popped into my head today when I was thinking about my journey of shoe and even though I obviously used way too many exclamation points in this interview I think it really captures my passion for shoes, and it kind of reminded me of all that love and passion I have for footwear, so wanted to share it with you.

From The Gothamist

Meghan Cleary, shoe expert, author, The Perfect Fit

Meghan Cleary wasn’t born with shoes on her feet, but this shoe lover quickly found out what her favorite wardrobe item is, and has written The Perfect Fit: What Your Shoes Say About You (Chronicle Books, 2005), in which she maps out a woman’s ideal look, job and mate based on her favorite shoe to bring her gospel to the masses. The West Village resident has appeared on many talk shows, analyzing wearer’s shoe dates, is a recurring shoe expert on Soaptalk and Savvy, has written for the likes of Marie Claire and Time Out New York, and also blogs about shoe news. The extremely perky Cleary gave Gothamist the scoop on New York women’s shoe preferences and invoking your inner stiletto.

Have you always been interested in shoes? What’s the first pair you remember acquiring that you really wanted?
When I was five, I became totally obsessed with this pair of baby blue wedge espadrille sandals with flowered embroidery. They just seemed like the ultimate accessory–even though I probably didn’t even know what that word meant then!! I bothered my mom till she bought them and I still have a picture of me in them with this hilarious pink lace dress that I thought went so well with them!

How did the book come about and how long did it take you to write? Did you have to do any research or was this all stuff you’d already observed?
Oh gosh, I think this book has always been inside me on some level. It wasn’t till my agent suggested I write about my little obsession that I even considered it something to actually merit writing about, but when I sat down to do the proposal it just all came flying out like it had been just sitting in there waiting to be written down. I think I wrote like almost half the book just in the proposal alone. Some of it came out of my own observations, some of it research I was doing with shoe designers, interviewing them for articles I was writing, I also did a little focus group online which is how I cemented my belief that every woman has a pair of stilettos somewhere in their closet and that usually they feel pretty hot when they put them on! I sat in on a shoemaking class with Emily Putterman who is like the doyenne of shoemaking here in NYC. Read a lot of magazines, researched a lot of shoe history. Took me about a year maybe from proposal to finishing.

What shoes are you wearing right now and what do they say about you?
My second fave ballet flats–they are lavender Leopoldo Giordano ballet flats and they have a really cool slight, slight wedgeish heel and this ruched leather on the toe and suede accents. And they are so comfy and at the same time very fashion forward. I can motor around in them all day, in fact I walked from 23rd and Lex down to my office in the West Village this morning in them. They say about me mostly that I am feeling grounded right now and in a doer mode. I feel sort of sweet and innocent in these shoes-very class president, everyone’s friend!

Out of all the types and signs in The Perfect Fit, which one are you and which are most of your friends? Are most people only one type, or does it really depend on their shoe/outfit?
I am definitely a split between ballet flat and stiletto girl. When I want to motor around and get things done, I’m in my round toed flat, and when I want to tower and feel my feminine power, I’m in a stiletto. I wear Stilettos to any important business meeting–it’s crucial for business success!

Are there particular shoes that New Yorkers are more partial to?
New Yorkers love a really cool designer sneaker. Vintage, one of a kind, anything special that you can’t get anywhere else. And there are of course lots of women who are absolutely devoted to their Manolos or Jimmy Choos in a way you won’t see really anywhere else I don’t think. We are talking about women who stand in lines blocks long for their sample sales and often buy like 5 pairs of the same shoe in different heel heights or colors. These are the true Stiltto women–who can walk a mile in their 100mm! I truly admire them!

Where are you on the comfort vs. style continuum? Do we have to sacrifice one for the other?
I have plenty of shoes I love but can only wear in very limited doses. You gotta be comfy and confident in your shoes or the rest of you will feel bad, that is sort of my philosophy. Saying that though, I have a pair of Sergio Rossi’s that I can only wear for like an hour or so at a time–the key is to know your shoes and know when you need to change it up. If I am out wearing this one pair of Sergio’s (they are SUPER hot tri-color python pump 100mm heel!) I know my time in them is limited so I wear them for the most important part of my eve then switch into other shoes I tuck in my bag. You’ve got to have a Stiletto strategy!!

What about guys, should they care as passionately about their shoes?
Guys really just need to make sure their shoes are in good condition, more than the actual type I would say. A man who takes care of his shoes has a high sense of self-esteem!

You’ve been on some of the new talk shows, such as Tony Danza and Tyra Banks. Is there any insider gossip you can tell us?
Only that Tony Danza wears Varda oxford wingtips and that Tyra loves flip flops!

What’s the most important thing to remember when you’re doing these talk show appearances?
To have fun and be in the moment. It can be a challenge only because there is really hot lights on you so you are sweating, you’ve got like a pounds of makeup on your face, there are a million people around watching you and different producers and cue cards in front of you and timing and studio audience and you have to try and remember what you want to get across and at the same time have fun with the host and be yourself!

If you see someone wearing a really horrid pair of shoes on the street, do you say anything to them?
Oh gosh, no. I just mentally make them over in my head. Like wow-she would look so cute with a pair of Puma trainers instead!!

What are your favorite places in the city to go for shoes?
Definitely Bergdorf 2nd floor and 5th floor. The 2nd floor is like a magical land for me! I love it! I feel like I am in the enchanted forest! And 5th floor is where we had my book launch and it has all the fun young brands like Marc Jacobs. I also love Verve on Bleecker street and Cobblestones in the East Village for vintage finds. Also Marc Jacobs is down my street and I go by the windows a lot for inspiration because he stocks a lot of his attention getting stuff in the windows and it’s fun to go by at night–has this otherwordly quality!

You’ve written a lot about finding the perfect shoe. Can you give us some tips on doing so?
Finding the perfect shoe is a blend of lifestyle assessment, evaluation of what you have and what your wear and don’t wear and doing a serious audit on your shoe wardrobe to find out where you might have gaps. You have got to take a realistic look at where you are at–i.e. I have a closet full of Stilettos but the reality is, I wear my ballet flats for everyday. I could definitely use a fill-in on the Ballet Flat category. I have been doing a lot of research about this lately and created a methodology. I have actually started doing Shoe Therapy sessions where I come into your closet and do my evaluation and create a prescription for you each season. It’s super fun and my clients get a lot out of it. Email me if you want the Shoe Therapist to come to your closet!!

How long should one plan on owning a favorite pair of heels? What’s the average lifespan?
This depends. I have shoes that are 10 years old–if you take care of them and get them re-soled and polish and condition them if they are leather you can get a lot of wear out of them. If you are constantly on your feet-i.e. if your job is like field producer, you will want to rotate your shoes to make them last longer.

Who do you turn to for shoe advice?
My friend Jason Campbell who edits jcreport.com or my friend Sarah Lukashok who is an amazing accessories designer. They both have an innate sense of both fashion and proportion and silhouette. For me, if I am asking for shoe advice it’s mostly how do these compliment a certain look or how do they work with what I’m wearing. My friend Tracy Cox too who is an amazing stylist (doing The Devil Wears Prada movie right now) is also a great shoe advisor. He turned me onto the idea of the neutral shoe–placing the emphasis more on my ensemble than the shoe itself. But sometimes I just have to kick it in my red stilettos!!

When you’re not shopping for or talking about shoes, what do you like to do?
Watch Law & Order reruns (the ones with Jerry Orbach), go on “market days” which is also known as SHOPPING!, talk to store owners, discover new things and meet people in my neighborhood. I love to go out for really long delicious dinners, take a long walk in the West side river park where I live, or just curl up with a good book. The problem with me is that I am a totally obsessive reader so once I open the book, I won’t stop very often till I finish, so reading a novel can be sort of a big commitment sometimes! I love reading fashion mags or just hanging with my girlfriends having brunch and dishing. Oh yeah, and I love going to the spa. Cornelia is my fave! They have these warm neck pillows they put on your neck and they feed you fresh berries!

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This fall, shoe designer Beatrix Ong is exploring new fashion avenues. Known for her sensuous ’30s-inspired platforms, signature asymmetrical high-heeled Mary Janes and chic flat sandals, the British designer will now debut an exclusive collaboration with luxury luggage company Globe Trotter.

Ong is a collector of vintage luggage—inluding a Globe Trotter piece once owned by the Duke of Westminster himself—so she has a personal interest in the timelessness and durability of the brand. She added her own twist to a trolley bag, suitcase and vanity trunk with exclusive exterior detailing in black with a white handle, along with a whimsical illustrated interior by Natasha Law featuring Ong’s shoes in a repeating pattern. Fashionistas and airline attendants from LA to London are already clamoring for the limited edition cases which will be available at Ong’s flagship in Mayfair shop this fall.

And in an effort to continue expanding her brand, Ong has also dipped a toe into the world of athletic shoes. In the coming season, she’ll also offer an Italian hand-finished, laser printed custom white and red rising phoenix on Nike Blazer high tops, which will be available on a made to order basis at her flagship this fall.

—Meghan Cleary

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With shoe obsessions continuing to grow exponentially, venerated footwear instutions have stepped up to the plate with products that satisfy industry influencers as well as the consumer audience.

Footwear Plus, the footwear industry’s monthly magazine, just launched a new website with a Nylon-esque feel and decidedly downtown sensibility, a daily updated blog with op-ed about how the larger retail world trends translate into the industry and a free Trendspotting email blast.

Meanwhile, ANCI (Associazione Nazionale Calzaturifci Italiani), otherwise known as the The National Association of Italian Footwear Manufacturers, follows up its groundbreaking Made in Italy social media campaign with a spot-on trend report for spring/summer ‘10 straight from Milan. Originally intended for the shoe industry, the report offers key inspirations for global fashionistas this fall from trend stories such as Vertical Garden to Urban Chic Marina.

Despite publisher Jay Spaleta’s recent replacement by Men’s Vogue publisher Marc Berger, Footwear News pioneers forward this fall with the first ever Stepping Out in Italian Shoes event during Fashion Week in September. The event is set to be like an Academy Awards for shoes, celebrating the best in Italian design and manufacturing.

These changes, varied as they may be, could be the ticket to opening the industry to consumers rather than just insiders.

—Meghan Cleary

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etail Watch: TenOverSix’s Exclusive Appeal
June 11th, 2009 | Los Angeles

Since its debut in the fall of 2008, the eclectic and airy TenOverSix boutique has warmed the hearts of Los Angelenos with its New York state of mind. Owned by NYC expat and shoe designer Kristin Lee, Joe Cole, and Brady Cunningham, the store is chock full of accessories for women and men, art, design objects, lighting, furniture, and obscure books and magazines.

TenOverSix’s corner space on Beverly Boulevard stacks shoes on chairs suspended on the wall from Maloles, Eileen Shield for Zero+Maria Cornejo, Opening Ceremony, Bess and Matt Bernson. Apparel from Bodkin Brooklyn, Electric Feathers, Rachel Comey and Vivienne Westwood Anglomania, while bag lines by Acne, Alexander Wang, Rachel Nasvik, Martine Sitbon, Life with Bird and Hayden Hartnet populate the rest of the space in between the magazines and books.

The store has also cemented exclusive distribution in LA for Zan Zan eyewear, Six Scents perfume, Wundervoll lingerie, Ligia Dias, Silver Lining Vintage Eyewear and WANT Les Essentiels des la Vie, with an eye on acquiring more exclusive items from around the world. What’s more, they have also begun production on a TenOverSix private label line, designed by Lee and Brady, that will have its debut this fall at TenOverSix, Opening Ceremony in LA, New York and Tokyo as well as Steven Alan in New York.

Shop address: 7427 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
323.330.9355

Shop address: 7427 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
323.330.9355

—Meghan Cleary

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Debuting at MAGIC in August of 2008, the Radii collection features clean lines and is produced in action and full grain premium leathers as well as treated canvas. The line also includes textured, patterned materials such as suede, patent leather, nubuck, animal prints and perforations. The metallics and patent leathers are selling out as of now, but the white and black combinations a close second. For winter, expect to see more high tops with subtle embellishments like buckles and zippers as well as cleaner hues with accents of poppy colors. With a shopper-friendly price point of $90–120, these sneaks are sure to be a new basic for the fashion forward crowd.

For more information, see www.radiifootwear.com.

—Meghan Cleary

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“Italian Footwear Tries On Social Media
March 11th, 2009 | Milan

The internet has opened up an endless horizon of possibilities for the fashion industry. From the rapidly changing nexus of applications (video blogs, Twitter, online social shopping) to designers and stylists taking their Facebook pages into their own hands (Isaac Mizrahi’s video blogs, Patricia Field’s latest Wireimage photos) and the expanding overlap of fashion and entertainment (Tommy.tv, Ralph Lauren’s iPhone runway application), the web has ushered in new modes of communication and conveyance for the fashionably inclined. Now, the National Association of Italian Footwear is pushing the boundary further, pioneering even newer online territory.

The NAIF is the first fashion trade organization to deploy social media directly to consumers themselves. In February, it launched a unique “Made in Italy” campaign by partnering with groundbreaking social advertising site Zooppa and asking consumers to upload videos about what they think of Italian footwear in competition for cash prizes. Within three weeks, the site saw more than 100 submissions and 100,000 downloads. The winning video was by Alessandro Meucci, an aspiring filmmaker living in Tokyo with his Australian girlfriend who loves her Bruno Magli stilettos.

Will CFDA be next, soliciting feedback directly from the shoppers who consume the actual brands? There’s no telling where this intriguing new trend will show up next, but it’s a compelling model for fashion organizations to highlight their member brands and raise consumer awareness in a changing, and often slippery retail landscape.”

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Leffot’s Footwear Fantasy
September 24th, 2008 | New York
While women vie for spectators elsewhere in the city, men’s footwear specialty shop Leffot has taken up residence in the West Village. Located just a few doors down from the exquisite women’s shoe and jewelry store Diana Broussard, and a block away from the upscale children’s Shoe Garden, this retail-rich neighborhood seems to have transformed into a venerable shoe haven.

Steven Taffel, Leffot’s owner and proprietor, saw a need for a shop that catered to men who wanted luxury shoes but didn’t want to trek uptown to Barneys or Bergdorf. A former Prada executive, Taffel maintains that men love shoes as much as women do—they just don’t talk about it as much. To that end, he and his wife Hiroko have worked to create a welcoming and elegant, yet masculine space. They deployed architectural firm Front Studio to create a “dining room” where shoes are displayed on a 14-foot Hudson Furniture solid ash table, while a custom designed chandelier by Brand van Egmond provides low lighting and Timorous Beasties’ black-on-black floral wallpaper creates an understated ambiance.

The focus is on brands that make only shoes—rather than fashion companies with a shoe line—and the carefully edited selection includes ready-to-wear from Edward Green, Church’s, Pierre Corthay, J.M. Weston, Artioli and, exclusively to Leffot within the US, Gaziano & Girling and Aubercy. And, of course, custom shoes are also available. Never a better place for shoes to make the man.

Shop address: 10 Christopher Street, New York, NY 10014
212.989.4577
www.leffot.com

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Here’s pics of some of Vito’s shoes.

Here’s the interview from JCREPORT:

Vito Artioli Steps Up The Shoe Industry
September 23rd, 2008 – Milan
Vito Artioli has worked in the shoe business since the wee age of five, and was recruited by his father Severino, who started the business in 1905, to start designing when he was only 16-years-old. From hand tanning select leathers with aniline, to the double and reverse stitching process, the name Artioli is synonymous with a level of handmade artisanship that speaks to today’s luxury consumer—not to mention statesmen and celebrities across the globe. And although the Italian shoe trade is undergoing a massive transformation, the brand has managed not only to retain its market share, but also to find fans in new markets from Dubai to Moscow. We recently sat down with Vito—who is also the President of the National Association of Italian Footwear Manufacturers—during MICAM, the global footwear show in Milan, to discuss the art of craftsmanship, why designers flock to Italy and what fuels creativity.

Miss Meghan: What does “Made In Italy” mean to you?

Vito Artioli: To me, “Made In Italy” means very gorgeous, well-made, created with love, reaching absolute beauty. The quality of “Made in Italy” is many things together: fit, materials, fashion, durability—the good and the beautiful together.

MM: When luxury consumers are shopping, when they see “Made in Italy,” what do you want them to think of?

VA: I would like them to think of the way of Italian living, our history, tradition, culture, civilization and sense of the beautiful.

MM: What trends are you seeing in Italian shoe design for Spring and beyond?

VA: The trends at this particular point, are truly born out of the elegance of the shoe’s lines—very high style, not too heavy, but not too simple.

For men, and especially for women, this is happening not only for dress and everyday shoes, but also in athletic shoes—which are becoming much more linear and thinner with more expensive sumptuous materials. Before it was a very heavy sole, and that is changing a lot. We are also seeing combinations of colors for women’s athletic shoes that are very new as well.

For summer we are seeing many sandals that show off the foot as a beautiful object, almost to the point of fetishism. Very high, thin, with rich uppers and for evening rich with stones, very sophisticated naturals and exotics—crocodile, lizard, alligator, ostrich in various colors, not only in classic black and brown, but pastel too.

The sandal is extremely important for spring, and we are also seeing a very flat sandal—preferred by very tall ladies with small husbands! These kinds of sandals are inspired by the Greco-Roman tradition that make the foot look almost bare. We are also seeing platform cork soles, cork giving a lightness and insulating the foot from the hot pavement. There’s an almost Egyptian influence as well, with lots of stones. These are styles that never went away—a classical silhouette more than 2,000-years-old.

MM: What do you think about the trend of some American designers such as Courtney Crawford, Carmen Ho and Nicole Brundage designing and launching their collections in Milan before their home market?

VA: Italy has such a strong tradition of beauty and art that is very, very important. Many students of design in every field from the US come and stay for a month or more at least once to see Florence, Venice, Rome, Sienna—all of our beautiful cities and masterpieces. When they come here it enriches them because you feel the culture of art and beauty even in the smallest of towns.

Once they start to design, it is normal for them to come to Milan—the capital of fashion—to test their wares because it is a leader of beauty, elegance and art in all fields. Fashion is one of the most important parts of art now, because it is a part of us. Shoes are the most important because elegance begins with the feet and ends with the head—shoes are not an accessory any longer, they are an essential part and foundation of fashion.

MM: What inspires you when you are designing your own line?

VA: The creation starts from both outside and inside. When you design you must have love, your heart must work with your head. If you start to design and your heart is not working, you will not make anything good. You must have something inside giving you feelings—happiness, nostalgia, romance—whatever it is. Read a romantic novel, see a movie, look at a Ferrari, create the sensation inside of you and then you create it in your own designs. Heart gives you the ability to create something loveable, and thus attractive to a consumer.

I still design at 72—I am the sole creator. I am a man but sensitivity is important. I go to the Amalfi Coast and I listen to the symphony under the open sky with the stars and moon above in an open space. I listen until dawn and see the panorama of the coast, which is unbelievable. I swear to you, I often cry. That is what inspires me, that is what pushes me to create.

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“Omelle: Fresh Luxury For The Footwear Obsessed
August 4th, 2008 – Los Angeles
Omelle
Los Angeles-based designers Cherise Angelle and Nicole LaFave have put their collective visions together to birth a line of shoes that is sculptural, fresh and inspired. Angelle is a former luxury product placement specialist and LaFave a graphic designer (who was a top finalist at the BATA-sponsored 2007 International Shoe Design Competition), making them a footwear dream team.

Their debut at WSA featured a palette of saturated neutral colors, encompassing a spectrum from white to nude, grey, lavender and black—all crafted in rich, supple leathers. Made in Italy, their earthy wooden geometric heels are made from original designs that also include contrasting details like gold plating. This juxtaposition between soft and hard elements offers an intriguing new look at what luxury footwear can be.

Their line also includes soft, gently pointed-toe ballet flats, gladiators with velcro fastenings and hexagonal one-inch heels, towering stiletto sandals with cone heels and circular cutout patterns. Though directional, these designs are also extremely wearable and will serve as a perfect complement to the chunky jewelry and bold accessories for Spring ‘09. Of course, they’re also ideal staples for daily fashion rotation.”

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