by Adriana Zingone . photo by Giuseppe Spena
Alain Tondowski : a new collection, voluntarily based on “purity” to highlight the lines and curves of the toes and the heels of the shoes that this season place a new focus on the ankle, the designer’s favourite part of the foot, and showcase the nobility and the work of the materials.
On a 100 mm pyramidal heel, 90 mm neo-fifties heel, as well as on the House’s iconic 60 mm “Kitten” heel, booties, the collection’s iconic models, are highlighted: tight and zipped up the back, they play with contrasts. Models bordered in elastic allow slipping on the pumps and low boots for ultra-chic, easy wear which is offered for day in lambskin, at times embellished with a flower in PVC, in a very galactic, iridescent, purplish grey… for evening, it is offered in “naplak” patent leather… sheathing the foot and highlighting the ankle. Finally, for evening, sandals are either open or closed at the toe, with wide straps that crisscross around the ankles, all in black, silver grey, or dreamy lilac pony hair, embellished with chrome heels with futuristic allure.
The colour range begins with vibrant pastels: nude, “Parisian sky” grey and Lilac, which strike against an omnipresent black, the “iconic” colour of the collection that is presented with a very deep burgundy and intense, deep red… a resolutely “arty-tradi” collection where minimalism, savoir-faire and hints of “fancy” meld together by osmosis.
Antolina Paris is the name of a new collection of shoes based on the special concept created by Mariela Montiel. Antolina was her paternal grandmother’s first name whose personality and tenderness suffused her childhood. Antolina, a name that at once evokes her Paraguayan origins, a country deep in the heart of South America.
These shoes are made from a hand-woven material traditional to the Makas Indians, a Paraguayan ethnic tribe. The cotton is hand-picked, spun and woven after dying the material with vibrant and luminous colors inspired by the surroundings; azure blue for the sky of the Guarani territory and the mighty River Paraguay, the ever present greens of the tropical forest, intense red of the earth, and the pulsating yellow of the sun that burns bright each day in the sky above this country. With these magnificent fabrics and the designs, the shoes take on a life between the hands and the factory of the master creator of espadrilles, Louis Castaner who since 1927 has produced the most elegant espadrilles worn by generations of refined women such as Grace Kelly.
The exclusive colors of the shoes not only decorate the feet but also provide a means of living for the indigenous tribes, a beating heart in the forest of the South American Indian. Thanks to Giuseppe Baiardo, without whose support this project would not have been possible, an endangered craft is revitalized and a struggling community is rejuvenated. For this third collection, the braid continues to be the main element, not just as a stylistic element, but also literal. New encounters with artisans and tribes, braiding, joining people together, with a new project that becomes brand.
Coriamenta collection like the protagonist of “The Night Porter” by Liliana Cavani, inspiration is drawn from the military for a strong, determined, fearless woman. The motorcycle biker boots alternate with riding boots, with tank soles armed in rubber and a wink of fetish. The collection does not recognize half-measures: from the biker ankle boot, comfortable and aggressive, with an ultra-feminine stiletto heel, to the open and close-toed thigh-high boots, to the evening sandals with the iconic wing that characterises the brand, always featuring an aggressive touch that never veers into sentimental. Winter 2018 witnesses the use of new materials that render everything hotter: patent leathers, calfskins, tiger-print, stingray and suedes. Intense purple, Venetian red, stainless steel, military green and absolute black give the collection a strong, determined tone.
Drawing from the house of Rayne’s precious archives, this season, the designer revisits a shoe shape with flat, rounded tip and thick 50 mm heel with a spirit highly evocative of the ‘60s, the brand’s iconic years. Dressed as Mary Janes and booties in suede calfskin, suede lambskin, velvet or glittering, black fabric. Paired with rhinestones at the tip and heel modelled after one of the House’s vintage designs, embellished with piping in silver lambskin…
for neo-girly women that exude a soft ‘60s vibe. The Adalberta loafer, the House’s iconic model, is recreated this season in cracked metallic lambskin, in a new range of patent leather boots or high boots (mixed with stretch, suede lambskin) or in brocade fabric for the mules. Moccasins, moccasin-mules, moccasin-boots and moccasin-booties play with ballerinas and pumps with the House’s iconic bow that is dressed this season in leopard-print calfskin or glitter fabric.
A pop, chic, cool collection with twists of materials and colours, imbued with the DNA of the brand that always reinvents its classics with sophistication and indifference.
