SS12 Fashion Week Footwear: Vive la France!

I always love that Paris Fashion Week comes last, because its style is my overall favorite.  I’m always likely to covet more shoes from the Paris runways than New York, London, or Milan.  This year is no exception.  I’m loving what we’ve seen from Gay Paree.

Balmain showed us glamorously embellished boots with heels and patent leathers and filigree swirls that make me swoon.

Viktor & Rolf gave us typically playful and over-the-top mules and sandals that made good use of the SS12 transparency trend.

Sonia Rykiel offered up charmingly wearable simple silhouettes with fun lacing details (and by the way, I’m proud of how closely those last flat ones match the “Pocahontas” Louboutins I scored some years back).

On that note, Jean-Paul Gaultier showed a similar silhouette with this sporty white number.

I give that one a big and central visual shout-out, because much as I like to ogle the awesome heels shown on the runways, I do so love seeing shoes that actually look like I could wear them in style and comfort on a daily basis.

However, I refuse to ignore the gorgeousness (and simultaneous unwearable-unless-one-is-Lady-Gaga-or-Victoria-Beckham-ness) of the rest of the JPG footwear.  Behold the pretty!

But wait! Despite the indisputable beauty (go on, I dare you to dispute the beauty of those JPG booties!) seen above, I have saved my favorite Parisian shoes for last.  And that collection comes from Balenciaga.

Would that I were in a cleverer frame of mind,  I would write odes to these shoes and their squared off toes and their little heel nubbins and their simple primary color palette and their architectural style.  If you love these shoes like I do and are feeling more eloquent than me, please oh please OH PLEASE, feel free to share your own odes in the comments to this post.  I’m so tempted to promise away my first born for those red ones on the left.

Jean Paul Gaultier Fall 2011

At the beginning of the year, Women’s Wear Daily did an article about trends for 2011.  The designers interviewed gave their opinion as to what was going to be “in” and what was going to be “out” for the coming year.  Half said platforms and ultra-high heels were a big “out.”   My first reaction was, “Oh Please.We aren’t going to give up our dramatic shoes.”  Fortunately, I didn’t say it out loud because Jean Paul Gaultier would have made me eat my words.

His presentation featured point-toe shoes that were no higher than 3.5 inches.  These shoes are a perfect professional shoe.  Let’s see what was  featured.

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Jean Paul Gaultier Spring Couture 2011

If I could choose one designer to make an outfit for me, it would be Jean Paul Gaultier.  He is a master tailor so the piece would be extremely well made, his ideas are not ordinary, and he has such a wicked sense of humor.

Gaultier presented his Haute Couture collection a couple of days ago in Paris.   In the pre-show he described the outfits as “CanCan Punk.”  Many were prepared for a hot mess because he had a loop of cancan music playing before the show and there was no seeming way the two components could combine to be very good.

Then music stopped and the show started.  Catherine Deneuve described stunning, outfit after stunning outfit  in French while the models held numbers, the old-world couture way.

The shoes, I dunno. Lace booties, pumps with bondage ankle cuffs, crochet sandals.  True, he added crochet lace on the platforms. The lace, not only on the shoes but also in the stockings had a hand-made, old fashioned heft to it, but  I was hoping for something prettier.   His banana leaf shoes come to mind – a pair I would still love to own.  Maybe I am being a little hard on him.

Let’s look at what he presented.

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Spring 2010 Runway: Hermes

If I could afford it, I would wear Hermes everyday.  It’s  horsey/equestrian look is my style type.  The browns, oranges and creme colors are my colors.  I love it all.  Jean Paul Gaultier showed his last collection for Hermes on October 6.  He went all out with this one.  The venue looked  like a high-end horse arena, complete with a dressage show under mmassive chandeliers as an opener.   It was a cohesive, well executed and high quality show with fifty-two outfits. 

Hermes spring 2011 runway   (I would embed this but I am a computer doofus and can’t figure it out.)

As a master tailor, Mr. Gaultier has done some amazing things with unusual fabrics.   This line is no different.  It is luxury, absolute luxury.   I tend to like what Jean Paul Gaultier does for Hermes more than what he does for his own line, which is amazing in it’s own right, however very different from Hermes.  

The heels were fairly chunky.  The sandals were woven straps, but not thin straps.  Over all, they worked well.  Let’s see what Mr. Gaultier featured in his last  collection for Hermes .

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Spring 2011 Runway: Jean Paul Gaultier

It’s Jean Paul Gaultier….where do I begin? How about these traffic-stopping, patent-red, spatted knee-boots?

Who knew sexing up your granny boots was as simple as adding a front-laced spat to a perfect pair of red-patent pumps?  Retro details are rarely so devilishly modern.

Oh, and adding florals generally results in a sweetly romantic shoe.  Not so with Gaultier…..add a patent-flower ankle corsage to a thick, bondage-strap pump (One side only please,  we want to keep things a little unexpected.)….Et Voilà: (more…)