With designer shoes this season, various styles and colours are being introduced and incorporated into the designs. Spring 2014 is all about pops of color! Visions of light blue, yellow and fuschia have generated much excitement as they glided down the runway. Making a comeback this season are several styles that have been touched on briefly in the past- backless heels, sport-inspired glam, and embellished footwear were all prominent fixtures for the season.
Colours
Placid Blue
Placid Blue, one of the colors from Pantone’s spring 2014 palette and can be seen in many designer shoes. I find it unusual how this icy hue, typically meant for winters is taking control in the spring collections. To me it induces a sense of peaceful calmness, much like a frozen pond, however it can also be relevant to the clear, pale blue skies in spring time as well. The serene colour can be seen in the latest collections by Miu Miu and Manolo Blahnik.
Freesia
On the other hand, another colour that has popped up on the Pantone color chart and would be perfect for this season is bright and sunny Freesia. This blazing yellow is destined to brighten the wardrobes of many women. The vibrant colour gives a sense of warmth and energy. This is a reason it can be seen in many designer shoes like Giuseppe Zanotti, Prada, Sergio Rossi and Christian Louboutin.
Radiant Orchid
Probably the most prominent hue of the season, Radiant Orchid shines through and through as it was named Pantone’s colour of the year for 2014. This captivating colour is both intriguing to the eye as well as the soul. It spreads love, health and joy, so why wouldn’t the designers want to use this colour in their latest collections? The colour is seen in many collections for the season, from Manolo Blahnik to Gucci and Jimmy Choo.
Styles
Mules
Mules have made a comeback this season through designers like Giuseppe Zanotti, Christian Louboutin, Victoria Beckham and many more. Personally I am not a fan of this style, as I would most likely walk right out of them but these backless designer shoes have been spotted at various fashion shows for mega brands like Celine, Chloe, Stella McCartney and Alexander Wang. They can be seen having a variety of heels heights, embellishments and strap widths.
Sporty
This season has also created a new form of trend for designer shoes where designer heels have been combined with a sporty theme. This is quite an unusual style which makes the designer shoes look chic and interesting, but also casual and cool.
I wouldn’t imagine combining something like shoe laces with evening high heel sandals like Christian Dior has done here. These heels would go perfect with a short black or white dress.
Balenciaga has used woven nylon, that you would normally see in sport designer shoes, and incorporated it with leather to make these ankle strap sandals. The sandals would go perfectly with your casual or formal outfits.
Prada has also used the sporty theme to create this sandals where rubber bumpers and soles and been incorporated with suede and crystals to create these sandals. In my opinion, I find the Christian Dior and Balenciaga Sandals more appealing over these futuristic Prada Sandals
Add on’s
Embellishments
Embellishments are a norm to be used on designer shoes but every season they become more creative and extravagant which make each pair of designer shoes unique in its own way.
Christian Louboutin has used a Door Knocker embellishment on his pumps. It is quite a quirky embellishment for Louboutin to use as he usually just incorporates lace or spikes with the design of his classic pumps
Sophia Webster has incorporated butterflies in her shoes designs which give it an interesting three dimension look. The sandals would go perfect with that short dress or skirt.
Floral embellishments have also become quite popular this season as seen on Valentino and Giuseppe Zanotti Sandals. The sandals look elegant and classy. The flower add-on grabs your attention. These sandals could be paired with a printed or plain short dress.
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Aiman Rafia Hashim
Assistant Buyer For Shoes & Accessories
TheLuxuryCloset.com
Catherine Travers
Handbags & Shoes Category Manager
TheLuxuryCloset.com