Come into the Light

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>> United Nude has blasted its way into London's atmosphere with its famed Wall of Light, a low-resolution video file that plays out across its frame structure of shoes, that graces other United Nude flagship stores.  I basically like anything that resembles a blinking dance floor or Daft Punk's Alive set so I found myself completely entranced in the vast space at the new Covent Garden store.  Creative director of United Nude Rem D. Koolhaas (not to be confused with his renowned architect uncle who goes by the same name… I made a horrid blunder with their names a few years ago…) was on hand to guide us through the contemplative space as we were at once awash with light and darkness.  United Nude's shoes zoom into a category that Koolhaas describes as "affordable luxury", a category that means shoes sit at a fairly comfortable bracket of ¬£100-¬£250 (with the Iris Van Herpen bad boys coming in at ¬£695).  United Nude continue to intersect design and fashion with their shoes that began with their established 'Mobius' style, that has in itself become a memorable design object in its own right.  Spindly metal heels that could poke your eye out, rainbow weave elastic and paint splattered patent brogues as well as other acute angles worked into heel shapes all contribute to eye-catching designs that I think speak of United Nude's ambition to be relevant to a fashion-aware audience but I doubt we'll see them pandering to the of-the-moment bells and whistles that get adorned onto shoes.  Afterall, they wouldn't look quite right in this pristine wall…  

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20 comments

  5. Ah, I’ve wanted a pair of UN shoes ever since you first featured them here. The store looks real nice. Not easy to pick just one pair though 🙂

  18. Amazing! I would love this display in my house- true shoe-organization as it should be : ) Time to throw out that annoying over-the-door organizer!

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