clarks shoe design competition & shoe designer André Perugia

In class we were asked to come up with a design for a shoe design competition, the five finalists of which go to ladies day at the royal Bath and West show to showcase their designs... top prize a mulberry handbag and 2 weeks work experience with Clarkes, second prize is a weeks work experience with Tres Chic magazine! The brief was 'field to fabulous' - 'capturing the quintessential romance of British Rural fashion'.

My design is above; I took inspiration from the 1920s revival we have seen this year and country birds (the shoes later had a gold feather design along the back).. I knocked the whole thing up pretty quickly jususing the same themes as my final major project (more on that sooooon!) and also seeing the queen in Exeter on Tuesday! I'm not bothered about winning but I hope someone in my class gets through to the final!

Amazing evening shoes from about 1925-30, a picture I took in the newly and beautifully refurbished Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter features on my mood board. They are by Italian/French Designer André Perugia and showcase classic 1920s glamour.

I thought I would have a little look at his other shoes out of interest and came across some really kooky designs.

1. Heel less! These original 'heel less heels' look a lots less comfortable that the current ones.. they remind me of ballet point shoes. To get the look now, my favourites are these suedey Jeffrey Campbell ones. Yum.

      2.  Inspired by Picasso one of his peers, Perugia designed the cubist creation above... you can see more links between fashion and art in my art as fashion series!

        3. Cut out wedge in black and gold, here you can see how Perugia's innovative, original and avant-garde designs have continued to inspire modern fashion for example in these Lanvin shoes as worn by Beyonce.  

For more art & vintage inspired modern fashion, come back soon because I will be exploring my new 1920s/bird themed fashion design project :)

p.s Hello new followers, thanks for the feedback! xo