Paris Spring 2008 Fashion Week – Balenciaga Shoes

Remember these lego-colored pumps and the futuristic robot leggings from Balenciaga’s spring and winter 2007 collections? With Nicolas Ghesquière, the creative director of Balenciaga, you can always expect really interesting if not wearable footwear (unless you are Beyonce or one of the Olsen twins).

At the Spring 2008 show, Ghesquière did not disappoint. To you, I present the knee high gladiator sandals with a touch of Native American pattern woven in. The flowery runway carpet only adds to the craziness.

More demure are these Balenciaga peeptoe booties. Other than the heel being too skinny and high, I think that I might actually be able to wear these!

Photos from Style.com

paris fashion week part 2: son of paris fashion week

More outlandish shoes brought to you by the runways of Paris.

Balenciaga shoes:

Anna Sui shoes:

These look actually quite wearable, and I’d wear them in a heartbeat.

Chanel shoes:

Christian Dior shoes:

Jean Paul Gaultier shoes:

And because I think it’s so beautiful, here’s one of the Byzantine-influenced masks that Gaultier’s models wore down the runway. If only we could get away with these in day to day life.

Another pair of (wearable) boots to die for from Oscar de la Renta:

And finally, some wackiness from Viktor & Rolf:

It looks like we’re in for more of the 19th century vintage look (which I love) with lots of straps and ties. And quite possibly plaids. Let’s see what happens when fall 2007 looks hit the stores.

Heights of Absurdity

Um, excuse me, but isn’t this just a tad ridiculous? I know Balenciaga has a devoted following, but Ghesquiere seems to have taken things a bit too far with this spring-summer 2007 collection. Fashion has always had this tacit component of objectifying and fetishizing women, and these impossible-to-walk-in heels take that assumption to the extreme. For, surely, you can’t really walk in these–at least not like a normal, sentient, aware human being. And if you can’t really move, and/or your gait acquires all the elegance and fluidity of a rusted robot, and/or after 5 to 10 steps your feet and calves are screaming and begging you to please, please get down from up there, for the love of all that’s holy–you’ve become nothing else than an object. Do fashion designers really hate us women so much? Will somebody please tell them to stop this nonsense? There’s nothing really revolutionary about these vertiginous trippers. Here’s something revolutionary for the Torquemadas of the fashion industry: comfort. A simple, yet painfully underrated concept. How about seeing more of that on the runways???