The last shoe designer to have yielded to the sirens of street style is Nicholas Kirkwood, the famous English designer who chose the latest Paris Fashion Week FW17 to unveil his first model of sneakers. It is a pair of “high-top” sneakers all in leather that are developed only in black, white or pink blush. Of course, in order to differentiate from the others, they have the designer’s signature with the pearl which has become his hallmark of these last years.
It’s been eleven years since this young and talented man started his career in the category of the shoe-designers who revolutionised fashion stage. Graduated from the renowned Central Saint Martins of London, he presented his first shoes collection for his eponymous brand in 2005, by which he won the Condé Nast Footwear News award as emergent artist. After several awards and partnerships, for example with the American brand Rodarte and Jonathan Saunders as creative director of Italian brand Pollini, in 2013 he was acquired by LVMH group.
Famous for the avant-gardist style of his shoes which are designed like real sculptures and which defy the gravity force but also for his innovative use of materials such as satin, hand-printed suede, degrade fabrics, python and laser-cut mirror leather, today he is available in more than 150 stores in the world, with his main stores in London, New York and Los Angeles.
When interviewed about the reason of this new piece in his FW17 collection, he replied that it was the right time to create a pair of sneakers and that the singer Rihanna could wear his creation because she embodies exactly his vision of street-style. Moreover, this model reflects the inspirations behind the new collection that wink to London New Wave and Parisian electronic music of the Eighties but also to Daniel Buren’s sculptures and art installations and Helmut Newton’s photography. A collection that falls within the new trends of winter shoes with its model of glittered sock boots, always recognisable by the pearl-signature of the shoe designer.
