Marloes ten Bhömer wearing her own design ‘No heels’. Materials: Cast polyurethane resin. ‘The material, polyurethane resin, is used to make a shoe without any traces of hand making, moreover the heel has been taken off, so it will look even less like existing shoes. The shoes have been used in a photo shoot in which a famous picture of Naomi Campbell has been re-staged. The image has been taken at a catwalk show of Vivienne Westwood and is for me one of the most interesting fashion images, because something that went wrong in an industry that seems to search for perfection (in whatever way that is) has become an iconic image’ Part of Soles exposed: 21 women in their favourite shoes (January 2005, Adam Street Gallery, London) This show featured paintings of 21 women in their favourite shoes, by artist and designer Kelly Sant. Kelly has painted the feet of some of the leading lights of the design and fashion worlds, each clad in their favourite shoes. From design curators, to stylists, to the muse of a 70s shoe designer, each has chosen the shoes that they feel best sum them up. Essentially these are portraits of feet, some defiant, some coy, some strident, some sexual: each painting richly conveys the essence and personality of their owner. Yet each portrait ends at calf level, tantalising the viewer with suggestions of what is not revealed.
