Is it even worth writing about pink? Pink has always been popular but now it’s ubiquitous. Its staying power shocks even more so than an iteration of shocking pink.
Growing up with Hello Kitty in the 80s, pink was always there but it was never my thing (outside of work) but now there is no escaping it. And it’s amusing me to see it surge even higher than the last 10 years of living with Millennial Pink would have led you to expect.
But strong pink (aka Barbie Pink) is back. And if you thought Millennial Pink was everywhere, there will be no escaping it. Whether it’s actual Barbie movie fashion and collaborations, Valentino’s PP Pink for Fall 2022 RTW or Oscar de la Renta’s French Pink, Pantone’s 2022 Very Peri or 2023’s Digital Lavender never had a real chance to outshine the REAL winning color… PINK.
I expected to see a range of styles and to be familiar with all or most, and when I walked up to this particular display, even from several steps away, I knew what I was seeing before I got close but I was WRONG!
The shoes in question…
I recognize those boots… They’re the Chloé Susanna boot. Introduced in 2008 and still going strong in 2022 with multiple color options available in top end stores but also relentlessly duped.
Chloé Susanna boots in black and gold, 2022
But then I looked at the caption and my mind was blown:
Versace! MEN’s! 1992!!!!
How is this possible. I mean, look at them. Those are near on identical.
I don’t follow men’s fashion much. And in 1992 I was no where near literate about fashion, especially Versace. But how I have never even heard a whiff of a rumor about this???
So I had to do more digging to see what was happening with Versace men’s runway for Spring 1992 and it is real. This show was covered in gold stud work. It was the central theme in my opinion. I mean, check out this jacket I found on Etsy from a reseller/OG owner:
This is definitely the season and around the 9:00min mark is when you start to see the pieces with the Greek key design in studded leather, specifically the jackets. What. A. Show.
Not sure if anyone else will find this as mind-blowing as me but hey, this is why I love shoes!
Thursday, 9/1 was the opening of the new exhibit at the Museum At FIT, “Shoes: Anatomy, Identity, Magic“. As an obviously avid shoe collector who thinks of footwear as functional art and someone who loves museums, I made it a must-see that very day.
I think to the average viewer, this would be a decent collection of footwear examples, however, I was frankly a bit disappointed. I felt that the analysis of the collection was, for lack of a better word,… “light”. There were some interesting groupings but the juxtapositions they made between styles and designers could have been done much stronger or they could have taken the themes they chose to explore to a much deeper level.
Some of the things I would have like to have seen is how past styles influence designers today (see French Court shoes and Brother Vellie Grandma Stell mules), or a through line from a single designer of their earlier work to later designs. Or how a designer’s mentor influenced and helped to refine another designers style (a la Kirkwood and Sophia Webster – where you can see the strong Kirkwood flow in the 80s style throwback and colors of Webster).
Another interesting link that could have been made is the impact of sports on shoe design. Instead of a wall of very recent sneakers, and instead of showing a recent pair of Thom Browne skate-inspired shoes…
Not to be a humble brag, but when you have been writing about or studying (or collecting shoes) since before 2007, and you have a bit of a photographic memory, you see lots of opportunities and collection combinations. And I also saw a lot pieces I have have are in the exhibit. I mean, yes, even Bergdorf Goodman recognized it…
But let’s run through some examples: Jimmy Choo Cinderellas – Theirs and mine
There were a few other notable examples like sliver Manolo Blahnik Sedarabys (the SATC “A Woman’s Right to Shoes” d’Orsay heels), some 1920s satin t-bars and examples from Roger Vivier and Charlotte Olympia, where our collections overlapped.
That said, it is always fun to see a collection of shoes. You can look at what they’ve uploaded to their Flickr page. And maybe someday, I’ll do an exhibit of my own!
Note: There was one really interesting piece that shocked me… More to follow!
Shoe Daydreams 