Diane von Furstenberg Spring 2011 Shoes

Earlier this year, we learned that Frenchman Yvan Mispelaere would be taking over the helm as creative director for Diane von Furstenberg (DvF).  For DvF spring 2011, the first collection under Mispelaere’s watch, I was curious to see what direction he would take at DvF, especially given his previous stints at Gucci, Lanvin, and Valentino.

On the runway, I was happy to see bold, vibrant colors that we are accustomed to from DvF.   There were lots of strappy footwear with the rich emerald hue on the curtain-ish rope platforms (top left) being my favorite.  The heels, in keeping with other spring runways, were more substantive (i.e. not stick figure thin) but I’m not sure that I prefer the geometric gold painted heels.

Fur Flies This Fall

So, as you may have noticed, fur and leather are huge for this fall. You may currently be wrinkling your nose in disgust or you may be jumping for joy, but that’s what you’ll be seeing on the streets.

J. Mendel NYFW SS'11, via nymag.com

Be they pleather, be they faux, or be they real, these animal looks are intense and can be in-your-face and yet sleek and polished at best. These aren’t your granny’s thrift shop leopard prints or fur stoles. While the fur clothes for this fall and spring are more subtle, like the J. Mendel boleros, the shoes get a little chance to scream, “I’M AN ANIMAL!”

You won’t want to miss: photos of crazy, awesome, weirdo furry shoes to rival a yeti, after the jump!

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In Your Closet: AEJ

More evidence that our readers really do love shoes comes to us today in the form of this closet submission from reader AEJ.

As she notes,

I had to move my shoes to our foyer closet, but I’m starting to get afraid that the weight of those hanging shoe-shelves is going to bring down the rack! My collection is very modest right now but that’s because I’m just starting. Give me time… Give me time…

AEJ closet, July 2010

The only commonality I have seen among the various closet photos our readers send us is that the shoes are most often purchased for the basic love of them… After which, we then are all left to devise storage solutions for homes and apartments that are rarely designed to accommodate our particular obsession and its attendant space needs.

Which brings me to the following, updated, photo that I received from AEJ after I sent her a short note to let her know I was writing about her closet this week.

Well, I’m ashamed (or proud?) to admit that my closet has changed a lot since July.
Here’s a more recent pic.

*With apologies to AEJ that her email was temporarily overlooked in my badly over-filled inbox….It seems that you do,  indeed,  find gold among the dross, as it were.

As always, if any of our readers would like to share their closets on the main blog page, please send an email with (PG please) photos to galligator@shoeblog.com. Otherwise, you can always post shoe-closet or other shoe-related photos on our more informal forum pages.

United Nude’s Ultra Loop Bootie

Um, ok, is it just me, or is this photo beautiful, serene, artful and sexy as hell at the same time?

And that bootie! Named the Ultra Loop, and a very contiguous design indeed, this bootie is designed to wow even a skeptical shoe consumer. Its simultaneous luxury and simplicity wowed me when I examined it in person at the United Nude store in Soho.

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Calvin Klein Spring 2011

While Marc Jacobs did a Skittles colored collection with chunky heeled shoes, Francisco Costa at Calvin Klein was on the complete other side of the spectrum.  He featured soft, soft fabrics with a minimalist cut and used about 5 colors.  It is wonderful.  The shoes are interesting too.  Initially, they didn’t seem all that unusual, but then I looked again and saw the different components that made a fabulous shoe.  Let me show you what I am talking about.

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