LONDON — An exhibition
of nearly 200 shoes by British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood,
charting her styles over the last four decades, opens at London's
Selfridges department store Thursday. The exhibition, called "Vivienne
Westwood Shoes — an Exhibition 1973-2010," showcases
pieces by her Vivienne Westwood's archive, including the iconic
1981 Pirate Boots, the nurse inspired 15-centimeter (6-inch) heel
Mary Janes and the impossibly high Super Elevated Gillie platform
shoes from which Naomi Campbell famously took a catwalk tumble in
1993.
"She looked like a
gazelle in slow motion. It was fantastic, she never looked more
beautiful," Westwood said of the model, adding "she's
a very a proud woman of course, and so she laughed, but when she
got backstage she was so angry with me." Campbell's iconic
platforms were just one of the designer's many unconventional footwear
creations built on the belief that a woman's beauty is enhanced
when she's a few inches off the ground.
The 69-year-old Westwood
fondly recalls one of her first shoe purchases in the 1950s, a pair
of stilettos from a shop in Manchester which she wore to school,
earning her a less than approving comment from her teacher, using
her maiden name: "'Vivienne Swire, if God had intended us to
walk on pins he would have given them to us.'" She didn't let
that stop her then and she doesn't now, claiming a highly manufactured
approach to shoe design walks hand in hand with evolution.
"I'm not one of those
people who likes the 'no makeup' make up look," she said. "I
like artificial things and I think that's what we are. I think civilization
is artificial, otherwise we would be living in trees and it's wonderful
walking in shoes." Westwood's creations will be on display
at Selfridges permanent arts and exhibitions space, the Ultralounge,
from Thursday through Sept. 22.
Vibram Five Fingers Shoes
– Barefoot shoes take a unique approach to ergonomics. A recent
study in a national journal also said that the shoe is excellently
designed and the shoe became so popular so quickly that a number
of counterfeiters popped up after the company had trouble meeting
the demands of retailers. Vibram, the company that creates the barefoot
shoes, started off making sole’s for hiking boots before they
approached with an idea; a glove for the foot.
The five-toed shoes first
started in 2006, and quickly became more popular. Time magazine
named the shoe one of the year’s best inventions and the shoes
were also featured in Christopher McDougall’s book “Born
to Run,” a book that touts the benefits of barefoot running.
Barefoot runners land on the balls of their feet, rather than on
their heels which reduces the stress on the knees and joints.
The shoes sell for anywhere
from $75 to $125 depending on the model and runners have started
wearing them to events. The company is on track to generate $50
million in sales over the course of the next year, and continue
to receive high praise from media sources, both in print and on
the internet.
“It started off as a fad movement, but it’s gaining
a loyal following that I don’t think will fade away,”
says Dr. Ben Pearl. Could barefoot shoes be the future of sport?
All of the evidence points toward them being a better option than
any other shoe currently on the market and they have a huge following.
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