"A shoe is not only a design, but it's a part of your body language, the way you walk. The way you're going to move is quite dictated by your shoes"...Christian Louboutin.
- Christian Louboutin. "Printz," Spring/Summer 2013. Courtesy of Christian Louboutin. Photograph: Jay Zukerkorn.
THE EXHIBIT:
The picture above reminds me of the 'High Heels' movie, (in Spanish: Tacones Lejanos, meaning "Distant Heels") a 1991 melodrama film written and directed by one of my favorite movie directors, the Spanish, Pedro Almodóvar. But this picture is not a movie poster; it is the catalogue cover from Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe, an interesting exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, that show the exploration, development and evolution of one of the most faddish and provocative fashion accessories: the High Heels. The exhibit starts with the platform shoes (Chopines) born in the 16th century as a symbol of wealth, to the glamorous 8-inch stilettos used today on catwalks and red carpets.
A shoe is a piece of footwear created and intended to protect and comfort the human foot while doing various activities. Through the ages, shoes, and specifically the high-heeled shoe, has gone through many shifts in style and symbolism as fashion statement, fetish object, and instrument of power.
It is an item that talks about our personality and identity, with more function and conceptual meaning (protection, comfort, sexiness, and status) like no other fashion accessory where functionality and symbolism walk together. In this sense, I am completely in agreement with Christian Louboutin that "A shoe is not only a design, but it's a part of your body language, the way you walk. The way you're going to move is quite dictated by your shoes".
The exhibit displays more than 160 historical and contemporary heels grouped, according to style, inspiration, conceptualization and origin, in four rooms calls: Revivals and Reinterpretation, Rising in the East, Architecture and Spice walk.
Original pieces from designers and houses represented include: Blahnik, Chanel, Salvatore Ferragamo, Zaha Hadid X United Nude, Iris van Herpen X United Nude, Christian Louboutin, Alexander McQueen, André Perugia, Prada, Elsa Schiaparelli, Noritaka Tatehana, Vivienne Westwood, and Pietro Yantorny among others. But, what's remarkable for me is the story behind the concept design of the Planting Seeds shoe as you walk into the ground designed by Sputniko after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster .
- Rem D. Koolhaas. "Eamz," 2004. Courtesy of United Nude. Photo: Jay Zukerkorn.
- Winde Rienstra. "Bamboo Heel," 2012. Bamboo, glue, plastic cable ties. Courtesy of Winde Rienstra. Photo: Jay Zukerkorn.
- Sputniko. "The shoes to plant seeds as you walk into the ground", 2012. Courtesy of Sputniko. Rachelle Blidner- AP Photo.
- Watch the following explicative video, suggested by WSJ Live, with Jackie Bischof and Lisa Small, about the Killer Heels exhibition.
THE SHORT FILMS:
The video 'Spike' by American artist Zach Gold, commissioned for this Killer Heels exhibition, welcomes when visiting the exhibit that also includes five more, specially commissioned short films, from filmmakers: Ghada Amer and Reza Farkhondeh, Steven Klein, Nick Knight, Marilyn Minter, and Rashaad Newsome.
- SHOWstudio Presents: Killer Heels - La Douleur Exquise, by Nick Knight / Georgina Goodman / Max Jacquard / Younji Ku.
Killer Heels exhibition was open to the public last September 10 of 2014 and will be on display through February 15 of 2015, on the Robert E. Blum Gallery, 1st Floor, at the Brooklyn Museum in NYC, located at the 200 Eastern Parkway.
After visiting this interesting and beautiful exhibit, created especially for all those who love the world of fashion, you may conclude not only that change is the essence of fashion and that also it is frequently cyclical but also that: "High-Heeled shoe have been, are and will being the best and perfect accessory for any design and as such should being comfortable, functional and beautiful"...John Miranda.
SOURCES:
- Brooklyn Museum. Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe is organized by Lisa Small, Curator of Exhibitions, Brooklyn Museum.
- Sponsored by Nordstrom.
- Print Media Sponsor W Magazine.
