Thu, March 13, 2008 11:35AM
If the Shoe Fits, Buy Multiples
CALLING CARD
We've been head over high heels for LD Tuttle since the summer of 2005. Keeping up with designer Tiffany Tuttle is no easy "feet," but we managed to chat it up and snag a few snaps of her new spring collection and what's in store for fall.
DC: Tell the story of your new collection in six words.
TT: Always better when dirty. (Only four!)
DC: What parts of the foot do you try to like to draw attention to?
TT: I really do think feet are beautiful (years of dancing, I guess), and although I think the most beautiful part of the foot is the very top of the arch, I think that sometimes what is not visible is sexy and intriguing, too. My shoes are very much about what is covered up and what is exposed, and it is those small glimpses of skin that are stimulating and beautiful. For fall, I did a sandal bootie called the Titania, where the soft, unlined leather can be pulled up to cover the foot or scrunched down and opened up to expose the arch depending on how the wearer feels at the time.
DC: Seems like everyone is covering up their arches. What's the deal? Can this style make your leg look stumpy?
TT: I think this is really part of a general movement toward heavier shoes. The arch is frequently covered up to give the shoes a tougher and more utilitarian feel. I think that it really depends on each individual shoe as to whether it makes your leg look stumpy. I look at all of my shoes on someone's foot a lot so that I know that it is not hitting in some awkward spot.
DC: Who do you wish you could make shoes for?
TT: I would love to make shoes for Sylvie Guillem and Wendy Whelan, two of my favorite ballerinas.
DC: Where do you look for inspiration?
TT: Fall/winter '08 is inspired by Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Stills, a series of photographs that she did in the late 1970s of herself that are about metamorphosis and have an uncanny stillness that is breathtaking. I also frequently look to fiction for concepts and moods. Proust is a continuing inspiration -- I love the mood evoked by his obsessions, fetishes, and melancholy beauty.
DC: What shoes would you never be caught dead in?
TT: Crocs. I really just don't get them, although my husband/partner loves them!
