Shoe Porn Friday: Would you wear Prada’s SS13 shoes?
Style.com

Every season Prada ends up being all everyone is talking about during Milan Fashion Week and, in the months to follow, they always manage to score an impressive amount of magazine covers. Personally, I think Prada is one of the few brands you can appreciate at first sight but Miuccia's work needs to be digested and thought-about. And, since I don't wear womenswear, I am always up for some well-needed excitement on the catwalk.

The SS13 Prada collection was shown last night in Milan and I have since then read and seen many things about both the clothes – some of the best of the last few years together with SS12 – and the accessories. Everyone is raving about the shoes, for better or worse. I am happy to see the brand break with the line they were going lately and yet these shoes are 100% Prada: the bows we saw in FW10, the flower embellishments in FW12. Miuccia's harajuku girls are going to be a hit!

You can watch the full SS13 Prada show here. And don't miss the brand's FW12 'Real Fantasies' video.

Madonna & her dancers wear Miu Miu boots on the MDNA Tour
Courtesy of Miu Miu, Getty

Madonna must have had a great experience wearing Miu Miu boots on stage because after wearing them for her memorable Halftime Superbowl performance back in February she's sporting new pairs on her MDNA tour.

In fact, she enjoyed the experience so much that even her dancers are wearing custom-made Miu Miu boots! But they all wear slightly different models to the queen of pop. Madonna wears black shine, buffalo-leather boots with red heels, which she wears covered with white leather spats. Her dancers' are almost identical but with golden heels instead.

It's already impressive to have exclusive shoes and dresses made especially for a concert tour but it's pretty amazing that all her talented crew are treated to the same luxuries. Lucky them!

Cruise 2013: The best bits so far
Style.com

Is it me or have the Resort collections never been this good? We always knew that this and Pre-Fall were the most important collections commercially because they're the ones that stay on the shelves for longer, and hence make the money. But a few years back I was the first one complaining about how bland and pointless they were.

Well, I am changing my tune. Cruise 2013 is full of hits and excellent pieces! Balenciaga's collection was full of great ideas – cleavage cut-outs, hello? But I was especially keen on the footwear. The bow effect Ghesquière created on the bicolour leather boots might just make these as big a hit as his gladiator boots were back for SS08.

I also fell in love with Bottega Veneta. More precisely, with their tracksuits. I can solemnly swear that I have never, nor will I wear a tracksuit outside a gym but these are so cool. There's a 70's vibe to the colours and lines that, together with the nice fabric, makes it chic – there, I said it. These would have been so perfect for Farrah Fawcett in Charlie's Angels.

Michael Kors is doing great stuff at the moment. His Resort collection has this perfect balance between the relaxed relaxed and the super luxe – reluxed? I especially like the gold pieces: lamé, lace and knits that are just timeless.

Roger Vivier launches 'Jeune Fille' in London
Courtesy of Roger Vivier, Know Wear

Yesterday evening Roger Vivier held a beautiful tea party at their Sloane Street store to celebrate the launch of their new 'Jeune Fille' collection. The collection is the first form the brand for young children. Well, not for young children but for stylish young girls.

The new 'mini-Gommette' ballerinas are based on the original 'Gommette' ones made for grown ups. They are perfect for children because they have a rubber sole and their patent leather is soft and will withstand anything! Their ankle strap is perfect to make sure no shoe goes astray but these can also be removed for a more city chic look. They come in perfect hues for the summer – Indian pink, cobalt blue, poppy red, black and snow white.

The RV store was filled with balloons and all sorts of sweets and a line of huge lollipops and little windmills welcomed everyone to the store.

The shoes are available from March exclusively at Roger Vivier boutiques worldwide!

Jefferson Hack & Diego della Valle present Tod's "No_Code"
Courtesy of Tod's

With everyone in Paris for the couture shows it's difficult for brands to resist throwing events, especially for Tod's. They hardly need to look too hard for an excuse because they're one of the world's most active fashion houses. If restoring the Colosseum, redoing a film and launching a new range of accessories weren't enough now Diego della Valle has teamed up with fashion wonder boy Jefferson Hack to launch a capsule collection of footwear that transcends dress codes –hence "No_Code" as a name– and even genders. The line is unisex, and very rightly so. I doubt there is anyone who wouldn't want a pair in their wardrobe. Whether it's the classic suede plimsole, the indispensable desert boot or the practical Chelsea boot we all have our favourite (I spend my life in desert boots).
So to celebrate such an innovative idea the fashion flock was called to Hôtel Amour. Everyone from Andrea della Valle and Franca Sozzani, to Delfrina Delettrez Fendi and Livia Firth to queen of street style Anna dello Russo stopped by the party for a much needed dose of style and, of course, prosecco.

Courtesy of Tod's

* Tod's No_Code is now available at Tod's stores worldwide.

Shoe Porn Friday: Fendi's Persuasion Sandal
ModaOperandi.com

If you have not joined Moda Operandi yet I don't know what you are waiting for! Áslaug Magnúsdóttir and Lauren Santo Domingo are following the steps of Burberry's digital revolution by selling next season's hottest fashion way before it hits the store. You only have a limited time to buy your favourite pieces but it's anyone's best chance of dressing like an editor.

This week I've picked my Shoe Porn Friday from Moda Operandi's selection because it's all about Fendi SS12! I don't know what it is about Fendi shoes. Maybe it's the sort of timeless heritage feel that everything they do has. Or maybe it's the fact that all the most stylish women in fashion (Giovanna Battaglia, Viviana Volpicella, hello?) wear it season after season. The fact is I love Fendi too.

My favourite is the Persuasion Sandal. I love its 20's feel (very on trend for next season) and the fact that it makes a statement without being loud. That's the beauty of Fendi.

Available at Moda Operandi until December 14th.

Courtesy of Liam Fahy

I find it hard to post on Fridays... I usually get my posts ready on the evening before but by Thursday my brain is too tired. So I have decided we could all do with a bit of shoe porn at the end of each week.

This week I wanted to introduce Liam Fahy. I received his SS12 look book a couple of weeks ago and have been flicking through it lately. It took me a while to decide which specific model would end up on the blog but eventually I went for this laser cut calf burgundy model. I love the fact that they've used a new technique, which has an effect similar to suede. And I absolutely love the metallic piece at the front because it adds a tough touch to a very sexy and feminine shoe.

Click here to visit Liam Fahy's web and check out his FW11 collection and his range of bags, which he will also be producing for SS12.

The Sartorialist, Garance Doré, Telegraph Fashion, Vogue.com, Barneys, Nordstrom

Every season after all four fashion weeks have closed down I love doing little roundups of everything I've been noticing. You know how interested I always am in what the editors and buyers wear to the shows. It's interesting because the pieces they buy are not necessarily what we'll be seeing in shops or editorials, it's something in between.
Over the past few weeks, specially since Milan, I noticed a particular model of shoes being worn by a lot of different people with very different styles. The Fendi Chameleon, it's called. What I love about it is that it's got a vintage vibe –a slightly 20's/30's vibe– but the chunky heel in a different colour makes it contemporary. It's a sort of female version of a brogue –the shoe you can wear with everything.
My favourite model is the one on the top middle picture –the brown one with a neon yellow heel that Elizabeth von Guttman paired with first with an Erdem dress and then with a Mary Katrantzou. I just love the pop of colour.
Giovanna Battaglia wore the silver model that added a touch of sci-fi to her look and Garance Doré went for a burgundy model, very much in keeping with the style of an original brogue.
Even Delfina Delettrez chose a pair, in a more muted metallic colour than Givoanna's, for her talked-about jewellery/wig presentation during Paris Fashion Week.
The shoes retail for about £650, which is quite an investment. Click here to buy my favourite model.

Style.com, Garance Doré, The Sartorialist

I never need more reasons to love Miuccia Prada and yet every season she insists on adding new ones to the list. Prada's SS12 collection was perfect from beginning to end. We have seen a clear 50's inspiration on the brand's FW11 and Resort 2012 lines, which I obviously loved, and now Miuccia is still looking back in time but moving on.

The new collection is very influenced by the sexy lines and colours of the late 1950's. In fact, Prada specifically focused on the epitome of that era –Grease, set in 1959. Just as we saw on the SS11 collection, Miuccia has the ability of being quite literal in terms of graphics and prints while creating beautiful pieces everyone wants to wear because they also feel very forward.

The ever so famous 'Grease lightning' covers the back of silk jackets with embellished collars and sleeves. Its peculiar flame motifs are used at Prada to flank the leather bi-colour shoes, which made the models look like a queue of Hermes impersonators.

We saw a lot of pleated silks on skirts and dresses and heaps of jewellery. I really loved the latter because, while it was slightly ostentatious, very Italian, it also felt very modern and graphic. It complemented the embroidery and patterns of the jackets beautifully.

And don't forget the sunglasses. Miuccia has a way of creating the most-wanted model every season. She did it again at Miu Miu for FW11, after all.

Style.com, Celebrity-Gossip.net

I don't know of many people who feel as badly about white shoes as I do except, perhaps, Ella from Coco's Tea Party, whose opinion about these I'd love to hear.

Sarah Jessica Parker –looking stunning once again in Prabal Gurung– slipped into a pair of white Manolo Blahnik stilettos for her appearance at David Letterman and at Fashion's Night Out. Even though they're beautifully done I can't help but remember that time some 6 or 8 years ago when pointy white and silver heels were everywhere worn with flared trousers.

Coinciding with SJP's choice, Jenni Kayne opened New York Fashion Week with a really chic and simple collection which included pointy silver stilettos opened at the back. This made me question whether this is going to become a trend for SS12 and whether we should fear it if it is.

I truly believe that not many things are intrinsically ugly and it's who wears them and how that makes a garment or accessory special.

What are your thoughts? Would you/ have you ever worn shoes like these?

JustJared, Style.com, Yoox.com

When I saw these pictures of Ashley Olsen leaving the Bowery Hotel in NYC yesterday I first thought Ash had rescued an old pair of Miu Miu FW10 pumps from her wardrobe. The black stilettos with the double bow and metallic square front looked, to me, like the edited version of what Miuccia put on the catwalk three seasons seasons ago.

After having a little look around the web I found out that Miu Miu is actually selling this new model –the bows are placed further back and their size has been reduced– as a classic pair from their new FW11 collection.

I like the idea of editing successful shoe designs and converting them into classics that are still on sale through the seasons. Something similar is happening to their popular platform brogues from SS11, which are being reinvented for the new season and will probably stay for a while.

Shop Miu Miu classics at Yoox.com

This is not the first time I post about fur heels. In fact, ever since I saw them for the first time at the fw11 Alexander Wang show they have kept growing on me.

Doing my daily tour around my usual sites I came across Aperlaï, a new shoe brand that Style.com has introduced this month. This is their second collection and I'm really keen on their designs. They're mostly very chunky heels of architectural shapes, which I find super interesting and edgy. I'm really hoping to see Giovanna Battglia or Viviana Volpicella in them during the next fashion month in September.

The collection also has more classic pieces like flats and slimmer heels. Amongst those I found the pair above, which instantly reminded me of Wang's idea. Even though I love the bicolour fur that covers the whole front of the shoe I still prefer Wang's smoother fur and peeking toe because it seems more chic.

Would you wear fur heels?

[Style.com, Polyvore]

It has been a while since I last posted a Collage Sunday so I thought I'd turn my original idea for today's post into one. I know shoe designer Charlotte Olympia (Dellal) has been around for a while but I'm been really getting into her style lately. Just as Louboutin would do with the (trademarked) red sole Charlotte created her signature style by exposing the front platform of the shoe, which is usually merged into the design.

In her SS11 collection she's combined this way of making shoes with a Spanish inspiration. There is a lot of espadrille wedges and platforms and flamenco-inspired polka dots. However, for today's collage I had a look at her previous collections to pick my favourite pieces by her.

Happy Sunday!

[charlotteolympia.com]

I went mad when I first saw these shoes yesterday. I was going through old Style.com videos and found this one of Caroline Issa, fashion director of Tank magazine, wearing them. I can't quite explain why I'm so amazed by these Giuseppe Zanotti crystal-embellised shoes. There is something dreamy about the way Caroline wears them and how they glisten under the Parisian sun. What do you think?

If you're as keen as I am you can get your own pair from Net-a-Porter here. Mind you, they go into the four digits!

PS. I borrowed the term "shoe porn" from Coco's Tea Party. There was simply no other way to describe it.

[Net-a-Porter.com]

When I arrived at the Roger Vivier press day yesterday I was instantly awakened not only by the espresso that I quickly drank but even more so by the stunning merge of 30's and 40's inspiration and rock and roll style of the fw11 collection. Slick stilettos in black velvet, colourful suede and sparkly embellishments were, for me, the protagonists of the collection. A role almost shared with the some of the very contemporary and dramatic clutches of crow-appliquéd feathers and neon yellow shaved marmot. It seemed almost paradoxical how every piece felt like it was created to make a statement without really meaning to. I loved the use of brogue detailing on heeled Chelsea boots and Vivier's signature bags, which worked just as smoothly as the gold flat studs did on the patent leather accessories and loafers. Out of the whole line the pieces that completely stole the show for me were the suede "harlequin" stilettos (very Viviana Volpicella, if you ask me) and "Chesterfield" inspired structured clutch because of their art and interior design references and the golden heart-embroidered evening clutch because of its refined and intricate hand-sewn detailing.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Iñaki C.]

It seems like Miu Miu set the trend to take inspiration from comic books to dress for the new season. But it's not only them that have found a modern and sexy approach to it. Looking through what online shopping has to offer for SS11 it seems only evident that leather is king, whether on shoes, skirts or dresses, and that a big part of the clothes are looking to find a sexy way around comfy clothes. With big superhero films coming up in the next few months I wanted to have a look at what fashionable heroines should be wearing for Spring.

Clockwise from top right: Dion Lee pleated chiffon dress, Giuseppe Zanotti sandals, Miu Miu skirt, Versace cutout sandals, Christian Louboutin peep toe shoes,  Acne wedge boots, Chloé leather dress, Antonio Berardi dress, Camilla Skovgaard platform sandals.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Net-a-Porter, Vogue.fr, rantchick.com, popculture4fun.com]

Le Chanel kitten heel

This week's Chanel show was the first one I can honestly say I have really liked in seasons. I loved the casual styling that Karl used for the super high-end clothes. I thought using the tweed pieces with the rolled up trousers with the sneakers. Or as sneaker-y as Chanel can get, which is a lace-up croc Chelsea boot. But I was more interested, or should I say intrigued, by the kitten heels that the Kaiser used for all the evening looks. They look much better than Valentino's SS10 studded version and they are sort of Isabel Marant-ish, which I like. However, there is something a bit odd about a woman walking in heels that size. There is no reason for them to make a hit (aside from Lagerfeld's over-60 clientele) but I have a feeling Giovanna or Emmanuelle might make me eat my words in a few months.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]

Collage Sunday, 06.03.11: Parisian delights

It was so hard to choose only one or two designers to make my Sunday collage about that I chose four instead. They are some of my favourite collections of the weekend so far. Alber Elbaz did it again. I am forever in awe of his skill and imagination at Lanvin (please don't take him away to Dior!). I obviously loved his wide-brimmed hats (where you could have friends over for tea) and the beautiful shoes buckled at the ankle. Cacharel was a pleasant surprise. Cédric Charlier used colours (or lack there of) with prints to express a very modern and chic point of view. I loved the simplicity of the cuts and the layering as well. I hope Giovanna Battaglia gives this a try. I absolutely loved Sonia Rykiel's collection this season. her combination of checks, winter motifs, quilting and dyed hair was quirky but also rather Parisian. I particularly liked the tartan throw-ons and patchwork blazers. And finally, Junya Watanabe. He does extraordinarily well wherever he goes. I am dying over his fw11 light and asymmetrical knits and those slightly cowboy-ish Chelsea boots.

Clockwise from left: Lanvin, Cacharel, Junya Watanabe, Sonia Rykiel.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]

I carry the sun in a golden clutch, the moon in a silver bag

Last week Giulia and I stopped by the Roger Vivier shop on Sloane Street to see what the iconic French brand had in store for next season. The collection has been named "Le Sud" to conjure up the chicness of popular summer getaways like the South of France, the North of Africa and the Italian Riviera. The sun, the sea and the vibrant colours of plants and fruits evoke the relaxed fun typical of the summer season. Giulia and I loved how bold graphics like a pink lobster or unexpected materials like colourful plastic rings make up beautiful clutches a woman of any age would easily pull off. It was over these bolder pieces that Giulia died for. I was more fond of the tan leathers and beiges, like the openwork boots and sandals. And we were both smitten with the clutch, heels and flat sandals decorated decorated with golden bubbles that reminded us of champagne of caviar. The "diligence" and "Miss Viv" bags were our two absolute favourites. They're extremely classic but absolutely contemporary bags so it's no surprise Carla Bruni became so infatuated with the second she now collaborates with Bruno Frisoni, the house's artistic director, to reinvent it season after season. Hope you enjoy the video as much as we enjoyed the collection!

The FW10 shoes were quite amazing as well. They were inspired by military and royal motifs from times of Napoleon such as the famous fleur-de-lis. This inspiration was also present in the choice of materials. Black felt was combined with rich golden threads to create a beautiful ankle boot. Go to their website to have a look at the rest of the stunning winter line.

I'm off.

PS. I do apologise for the poor light and my bad pulse during some moments of the video. I tried to fix it but that's as far as I could go without losing the colour.

Thinking ahead: Tod's SS11

A couple of weeks ago Giulia and I were lucky enough to preview what the Italian staple Tod's will make us want to wear next season. We were warmly welcomed at their Old Bond Street store where we enjoyed Prosecco in an amazing sea of shoes. They are best known for their "gommini", the suede and leather loafers that any woman wears across the world from Milan to New York, passing Barcelona and London, of course. Giulia an I were gladly surprised by the range of accessories that they offer on top of shoes. G absolutely "died" over the leather detailed cuffs, their suede lace-up heels and the incredibly light and soft croc bags.

We tried to edit down the choice of our favourite pieces but having so many beautiful colours and materials made this really hard. Would we go for the fuchsia croc loafers or for the python ones? Maybe the yellow suede? So we ended up making a short video so you can choose for yourself. If it were up to us we'd have them all in our wardrobe!

I also recommend you to pay a visit to their website. They have celebrated their collaboration with Milan's Teatro alla Scala with an unbelievable video. It is a dance allegory of the making of their famous "gommini". You'd think this is another of those nonsense fashion videos but you'd be missing out. I was in absolute awe of the impressive choreography, which perfectly represents every step of the creation process from the pebble fitting to the trimming.

I'm off.

[Pictures: soVIPzone, Tod's]