Hooooooof!

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>> A shoe goes 'hoof' not just because of the dizzying heights of the physical shoe but because visually, it 'makes a 'oooooof' of an entrance and instant visual impact, in part due to its perilous architecture.  The 'hoof' shoe has had its fair share of catwalk amalgamations, from Balenciaga A/W 06 'cut-away wedge boots to the over-blogged Alexander McQueen reptilian S/S 10 shoes and these shoes from Iris Van Herpen's  A/W 10-11 collection are definitely another teetering step towards an a great thudding onamatapoeic "'oooooof"… that's not someone falling over (like this kind of 'Ouch!') by the one but someone skilled with strong ankles that can make significant visually-shattering steps in shoes like these.

I took no notice of what I thought were essentially show shoes – i.e. things that won't make it beyond showrooms and editorial shoots – until I found out today these are actually a collaboration between Iris Van Herpen and United Nude.  Seeing as the founder of United Nude Rem D. Koolhaas is the famed architect nephew of famed architect, Rem L. Koolhaas (creator of my fantasy dream home – wow that was a heavily corrected sentence there…) I doubly intrigued even though I've yet to find the right pair of UN shoes for me.  The element of architecture in this shoe collaboration does make them more than just ostentatious show shoes.  Functionality and technological soundness, qualities which UN prides itself on seem to jar with the design and 'hoofness' of these shoes but I may be mistaken as the proof is in the trying on.  Produced to the quantity of 240 pairs (at a different kind of ouch-inducing price of EUR1,000), it means these are tangible and buyable products too unlike similarly ooooofing hoof shoes which tend to be guarded objects not meant for shop floors.  I'll race you there for some sneaky phone trying-on shoe shots…

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44 comments

  5. What stores have picked them up? Luisa? Corner? I love the packaging from those two, it’s like xmas all year round 😀

  7. Ah I think they’re being stocked in UN’s flagship in Amsterdam and some of their other stores in New York, Vienna and Shanghai…. oh well…!

  8. There’s actually two Rem Koolhaases: Rem A. Koolhaas of United Nude is the nephew of Rem L. Koolhaas who is the architect of the building you mention. But big hooray to those hooves:-)))

  9. Playlust: Ooops…big mistake on my part…. that’s fairly confusing but hey, it’s all one big architecture-based family…

  23. These instantly reminded me of some of the pieces in the Sharon Wauchob F/W 2010 collection with the slashed cuts of leather.

  26. Those shoes are fantastic!
    billyhoss.blogspot.com
    billyhoss.blogspot.com
    billyhoss.blogspot.com
    xo

  38. Ooh I didn’t really like the clothes at Iris’s show, I thought it was a bit of a lazy rehash of her last collection. But then, I couldn’t see the shoes since I was most certainly not in the front row… Liking these guys a lot!
    xx
    Duck

  42. I have discovered this brand recently when I visited the shop in Covent Garden( they have a shop in shop of this brand ) I am sure you have seen them all Susie!!! I fell in love with a pair of green shoes with sort of very structural design – its featured in their web site. I think these hoof ones are a piece of art.

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