Ashlee Moratorio wearing ‘My Vixen shoes’ designed by Manolo Blahnik. In case you’re wondering… worn with head to toe black and a dash of red lipstick, very ‘femme fatale’. These were one of Ashlee’s first pairs of Manolo’s (and she has lots) ‘On their first outing they immediately commanded attention. Within an hour of wearing them I had a man drooling over the shoes. As he asked me to join him for coffee, all the time staring at the shoes’, he said, ‘So, do you always wear shoes like that?’ 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.
