Shoegasm: An Explosion of Cutting Edge Shoe Design

by Clare Anthony, Manolo Blahnik (Preface)

“A shoe is a very complicated object to design. It is art, but involves mini materials, techniques, tooling. The end result is a fantasy sculpture to look at, but has another life when it is worn.” - Kobi Levi Exotic shoes have been around for centuries. Sandals made of solid gold were found in the royal tombs of ancient Egypt. Six hundred years ago, women teetered around Venice in chopines with platforms up to a foot high. And in China, tiny golden lotus shoes were brightly colored and elaborately embroidered. In the twentieth century, Salvatore Ferragamo introduced platform shoes and “invisible” sandals. Beth Levine invented sprint-o-lator mules and topless shoes held to the sole by adhesive. Roger Vivier created the concave stiletto and comma heels for his extravagantly bejeweled concoctions. The last two decades have seen an explosion of creativity in footwear design. Sexy laced-up sandals, sky-high platform heels, and outrageously decorated shoes are seen on fashionable women everywhere, from the catwalk to the street. In Shoegasm , you’ll find page after page of fabulous footwear from fashion icons such as Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik, Vivienne Westwood, and Alexander McQueen, as well as exciting young designers like Nicholas Kirkwood, Charlotte Olympia, and collaborators Rem D. Koohhaas and Galahad Clark. You’ll also see shoes that are truly wearable art from innovators like Kobi Levi, Julian Hakes, and Marloes Ten Bhomer.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Sandi Faulconbridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drool! Just simply freaking amazing shoes!!!!!

[Ligaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, beautiful book showcasing even more beautiful - though unwearable - shoes, shoes as artform. So sad that nothing in here is even remotely comfortable. My reflex toward shoe designers as misogynistic egotists is fully borne here but if one just takes these pieces as art, it does seem more palatable.

[Georgene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book filled with gorgeous, outrageously expensive hand-crafted shoes that for the most part are unwearable by most women except the poor models who much wear them on that cat-walk while endangering their lives or at least their ankles.

That being said, I enjoyed this book immensely as an art book. The shoes pictured are absolutely wonderful, a joy to behold, but never to be worn by me. Not just because I cannot afford any of them, but also because I would break my other ankle if I were so foolish as to attempt to wear most of them. There were at least one pair that perhaps I could wear, but cannot afford. But I really liked looking at them.

So, gaze and enjoy the fantasy that these shoes may bring to you!