Marloes ten Bhömer wearing her own design Red Mâché. Materials; laser cut stainless steel, leather In order to design and make comfortable shoes that have a different silhouette form than the form of a foot, I invented a leather-mâché technique. This technique made it possible to vary the thickness of the shoe at certain parts. In this shoe the leather-mâché technique is used with big sheets of leather, to make the form of the shoe very abstract. All the details like the toe and the heel come from the way of constructing this shoe. The heel for example is just another (reinforced) sheet of leather. I am interested in creating new shoe typologies for people with new fantasies and new definitions of beauty. In order to create these, to move forward in shoe design, I am introducing new shoemaking techniques and materials. 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.
