Hooves

  This post may seem a little out of context from my usual...... I wrote a little while back about some boots that I had designed for my degree graduation catwalk show, hooves in fact. Well since that post I received an email from the V&A no less to say that not only had they got a pair in their new show, they were also pleased to say that they had accepted them into the permanent collection !!!!!! A huge honour for me, especially as I have always considered it to be my second home and temple of inspiration.
   The fashion collection that they were designed for was made to celebrate the power of feminine beauty without objectifying it. The height of the boots also gave the wearer superhero proportions (1:9 instead of 1:8) and did they look good when you walked in them! It is with some irony that I noticed that those that the museum have are one of the few mens' pairs that were made.
  The exhibition is on for six months.

(photo from Drapers Record 1991)

Horse Hoof boots

Now here's a blast from my past ! I graduated in fashion quite some years ago (1991, for goodness sake!) and for my final show I designed some boots that looked like horses hooves, they were done beautifully by a shoemaker called 'Napoleon'. Isabella Blow picked up on them and at the beginning of an extraordinary career used them in a shoot she styled with Steven Meisel. It became an iconic shoot for Vogue as it put upcoming designers ( me , Husein Chalayan, Alexander Mcqueen etc. ) with new models and many went on to stellar success.
  The new exhibition about Isabella at Somerset House has those photos (mine is the one on the left, thanks to Aeshetica) . I have fond memories of Isabella and some mad cab rides around London. She bought me silk and tights and I gave her a velvet jacket ! My career has changed since then but I am still proud of this shot. I should also add that I no longer produce these boots for sale...........