2010
A trip to Paris with Christian Siriano
Posted by twinkletoes in Alexander McQueen Shoes, Fashion Week, General, High heels, Shoes of Project RunwayThe scene outside Christian Siriano’s Fall 2010 show was chaotic. In the midst of the pushing and shoving, I took a moment to reflect on the meteoric career of this pint-sized fashion phenom. Project Runway has had 6.5 seasons of varying success. Siriano is the only winner to have joined the ranks of the fashion elite consistently showing in the Bryant Park tents and dressing the likes of Christina Hendricks, Mena Suvari, Victoria Beckham and Rihanna. In the Project Runway world showdown, Siriano is the clear winner. (Though I would like to take this moment to point out that Chris March did dress Meryl Freakin’ Streep for the Golden Globes!) His sharp upward trajectory is the stuff of highly unrealistic dreams for young designers the world around.
Inside the tents, the madness only got worse. A wide array of celebs were completely surrounded by reporters who camera flashes all but overtook the blue-tinged lighting design, as they practically killed each other to get to Mena Suvari, Amber Rose (sans Kanye, but clothed for once!), Veronica Webb, and Leigh Lezark. Once the crush settled and people finally got to their seats the show began.
The theme of this collection was an edgy, modernized 18th/19th century Parisian woman. (Yes, you heard that right. It was both modern and antique.) The shoes in particular included details that were reminiscent of the curlicues that adorn the often ornate furniture of that era.
Let’s start with the good.
Being a sucker for heel adornment, I love the webbing between platform and heel. It looks a bit more like a wrought iron fence that a Rococo Desk to me, but it’s still good. Also notable is that that ultra high heel with built-in platform is definitely sticking around. I like it.
I also liked these booties with their curlicue half-wedges. The texture on the bootie itself adds some visual interest, not to mention the pattern of the wedge. Chrome accents have been popular for quite awhile now and it seems that this trend will be continuing into Fall 2010.
There was some talk that Siriano would create his own version of the famed Armadillo shoe crafted by his former mentor, the visionary Alexander McQueen, (whose recent tragic death is an immense sadness and such a tremendous loss). No such shoe appeared on his runway. While these are certainly lovely for what they are (they have an antique table leg thing going on with the heel there), I wonder if perhaps these were meant to be a significantly more understated version of the other shoes that appeared on McQueen’s Spring 2010 runway. These:
Now that I see them side-by-side, I wonder if I maybe let my imagination get the better of me, but it could be possible. It could.
Siriano’s other two attempts at footwear were a bit less successful. The sandal/booties seemed a bit…familiar and I thought that though they supported the edgy/classy dichotomy he was going for, they seemed a bit awkward. Maybe it was just that they were paired with sheer hose, a trend with which I will never be on board?
The fluffy, blue heels that he paired with his gowns were ribbony and ruffly and a bit bridal. It would be a really cool wedding, but still a wedding.
Overall, I thought that Christian showed growth as a designer. It’s clear that salability was more important to him this time ’round, which makes sense in the current economy. And frankly, I was not the biggest fan of his claw shoes from Spring. The patterns I LOVED, the claws….not so much. It will be interesting to see how he scales these down for his Payless line in the fall. The beauty of these shoes is in the small details; he dosen’t have the kooky fabrics or novelty zippers to work with in this go-round so I have my fingers crossed that he will retain the romanticism of the originals without losing too much to the lower-priced materials. (Imagine those beautiful molded black heels in cheap plastic…Eek!) Siriano has made legions of Payless customer happy with his fashion-forward designs and it seems that, with these, he is poised to continue to do so.























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