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Barrie Wurzburg is Joseph's Executive VP
and head shoe buyer.
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Focus on Materials - From Bottoms to Tops |
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| Barrie's Spring shoes update |
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When you go to the sandals section of our web site and click on the VIEW ALL link, and you glance over all those little thumbnail pictures, what first jumps out at you is silhouettes - I mean the shapes, like platforms & wedges, ankle straps and all the gladiator looks. And no doubt about it, bottom and top treatments are half the story about this Spring's shoes. But after you've clicked on a few of those thumbnails for a closer look, you get the other half of the story - which is Materials. Check what those bottoms and tops are made of and you'll see what I mean. |
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| Exhibit 1: Tory Burch's Lottie Sandal. First, the cork platform wedge. I LOVE cork bottoms because they are feather light. I LOVE platform wedges because I'm 5' 2" and they make me more like 5' 5" with zero high heel discomfort. Second, check the woven leather top. These shoes are cute! And huarache-style woven leather (see the Cole Haan woven leather Nike Air, the Tory Burch Anya metallic flat, etc.) is big for Spring across the categories. |
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Exhibit 2: Stuart Weitzman's Tiquana Sandal, which maybe should have been Exhibit 1 since it practically encapsulates the whole season in one shoe. Let's start by dispensing with the ankle strap issue - I know people say you have to be tall to wear them. My answer to this is: I don't care. Next. We bought stacked wooden heels with and without platforms from Chloé, Givenchy, Gucci, Tory Burch and others mainly because they're beautiful but also because they tend to be thicker and, especially with a platform, you get an usually stable and wearable high heel - the Tiiquana is 4.5"! And, finally, the gladiator look, which is as big as any other trend across the market. Whether you love them like I do or not, they're a great way to show off material and workmanship - check out the Tiquana in jet mirror calf, the Christian Louboutin Paquita and all of the Giuseppe Zanotti. |
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| Exhibit 3: Lanvin Sort-of-Gladiator Sandal. I shouldn't really feature this because we're practically out of it (still have 7B through 9B as of today, March 8) but it's patent and it's orange, which are two strong trends. And the horizontal straps anchored by the vertical center strap make it a gladiator but without really shouting GLADIATOR - it's still a very feminine looking sandal. |
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Exhibit 4: Espadrilles from Prada & Donald J Pliner. These platform wedges have rope bottoms, which you'll see a lot of. Nice & light weight, casual, comfortable and summery.
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Exhibit 5: Christian Louboutin Turbella peep-toe d'orsay. What makes this classic pump also on-trend is the 1" platform with 4.5" heel and the fact that it's metallic. But I don't need a reason to feature this incredibly beautiful pump. Look at the ruching on that perfect napa leather!
I think what all these shoes show is that it's not really about the trend, it's about what the designers do with the trend, each in their own way. Believe me, we don't buy everything out there - within each collection, we look for the shoes through which the designer really captured the trend and made it his or her own.
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| Barrie Wurzburg |
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