The Young Un’

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Raphyoungss09

The Imelda never ceases to teach me new things about all things shoe related and I always go back thinking that I know it all only for Imelda Matt to teach never to be so presumptuous and cocky.  Raphael Young was one of the lessons Imelda taught me.  A young gun of a shoe maker that is based in Paris, schooled in Italy and also comes from a family of shoe masters, he has been inspired by the feudal Japanese period, by the armor or a samurai warrior…to create these menacing bits of foot coverings.  Perfect for contrasting with the softly-does-it knits that I posted about beforehand….

It’s not that the shapes are chunky but everything is cemented down with the use of dark woods, thick materials like elephant, anguilla, napa, deer and python (sob away animal lovers…).  It’s strong stuff for the feet.  Having seen them in person at Tranoi, I can also vouch for the claim he makes that every shoe is produced by Young himself from stitch to finish, making him a proper shoe craftsman.   

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(Background image from SHOWstudio’s Gareth Pugh Insensate project – the film is stompin’…)

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Categorized as Shoes

41 comments

  1. wow, amazing! Loving them all, but the first black one and the gladiators are my favorite. That man needs to get famous, and fast, so we can all wear his designs!

  3. Ah Imelda what that one doesn’t know – great distraction from my Edith Head essay.
    I’m not a fan of GP but must see the film!!

  4. ooh i love all these shoes!
    i must say, i’ve learned a lot from imelda matt, not all of it is shoe related though.
    😉

  5. Ah viewed film now great use of sound, lighting and montage. I also actually like one garment – at this rate you’ll have sold GP to me!

  8. Nice shoes. And I think I can forgive all of it, apart from the elephant 🙁

  9. I’m pretty sure that elephant is not actually a luxe material and is in fact imprinted leather but I may probably be wrong (i really hope i am right though). But I love the shape of not only the accentuated heel shape but combined with the platform shape it just is so edgy. Yay for the Imelda!

  10. These shoes aren’t my cup of tea… feel like I’ve seen these shapes a lot before. I love his inspiration though and would be interested in seeing his next collection!

  11. Love the shoes – they’re so edgy. The cutouts, heels, and textures are very inspirational.

  15. elephant leather? is that really necessary? they would be just as nice (if not more appealing) in normal leather. I realize that it is a slight contradiction because yes, cows are animals too. However, cows are bread purely for food and materials etc
    I think using a wild (and is many cases endangered) animal is taking ‘fashion’ way too far
    I would love to hear other people with similar and opposing views on this.

  24. Because Imelda will taser you if you are ‘too’ cocky as we all know.
    I’m always partial to animal skin and the likes. I would love to try them all to be honest.

  27. Thanks for the link, Susie! How amazing is Imelda? These Raphael Young shoes are stunning. The heels are sleek and sharp, beautifully sculpted, the uppers are so so cleverly crafted… and those BOOTS! I die.

  28. Ooooh “sob away animal lovers” – that was cruel. ^^ I do feel sorry for the animals… But the shoes are awesome though.

  30. Between Imelda Matt and you, I find so many new shoe brands that I can’t have (because of location), it’s all really rather heartbreaking indeed!
    😀

  31. I love the shoes (as a seasoned shoe fetishist) but I’m afraid I don’t think I could happily stomp around with elephant on my feet.
    I will wear a cow though but I eat cows so somehow that makes it all kind of natural and foodchainy in my head. Also I met some really nice elephants in Thailand once and I just couldn’t do that to their cousins!
    x

  32. Actually I think Brandon may be right… and I’ll confirm this with Raphael Young’s PR and in fact it is leather imprinted with the texture of elephant skin….

  35. I do remember this post from my sole mate Imelda. I received Raphael Young’s lookbook and was thinking of writting a post about him. I’ll see or link your posts.

  36. I like these a lot. The second pair is absolutely amazing, I’d totally get one of those. I’m a sucker for big, chunky wooden soles!

  37. I definitely see the craftsmanship that you are talking about… a designer truly creating for the art.

  38. These are such killer shoes. I love the hard look of the leathers and the seductive toughness of those heels. My favourites are those warrior-like boots and the pair with the little bows, which I think add a touch of sweetness that is very interesting.

  39. my oh my!!! the wedge shoes are gorgeous, the cut out gladiator style ones are superhot, i can imagine those with some bright tights, pink or yellow… i like!

  40. so confused by the pair on the bottom left. what are they? or is it a bag or something? i literally have no idea, but maybe i’m just mixing it up with the background! it’s like magic eye. love all the others though!

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