Shoe Designers: Top Ten Most Creative

A freelance SEO piece originally created 25/9/2011.

 1)      Iron Fist

Creativity in shoe design is something that can be debated: one girl’s Haute Couture is another’s shoe horror. Iron Fist’s innovative range of heels, flats and boots offer a chic alternative for Halloween-themed footwear, taking inspiration from zombies, werewolves and skulls. Gruesomely appealing, these unusual designs definitely push boundaries.  

 2) Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood may be famous for dragging Punk and New Wave into mainstream fashion consciousness in the 1980s, but her creative eye has turned slightly more editorial as of late. After the creation of that Sex in the City wedding dress, collaboration with Melissa Shoes has lead to the production of pearly peep toes and welded rubber boots.    

 3)      Nicholas Kirkwood

Tim Burton’s gothic 2010 remake of Alice in Wonderland whipped up a fashion flurry everywhere from the catwalk to the High Street. Explosive British designer Nicholas Kirkwood produced these charming and utterly wonderful Wonderland-themed shoe boot, peep-toes; complete with a pocket watch, key, red-not-white roses and china tea set charms. How contrary.    

4) Miu Miu

The famed, high-fashion brand spin-off from Prada, Miu Miu is synonymous with glitz and glamour. Specialising in sparkling sandals and open toe boots, each season sees a new offering to the fashion forward, with courageous curves and an absurd amount of glitter dominating their Autumn/Winter collection.

5)      Irregular Choice

Shopping for something unique? Something a little different from the norm? Well take a look at Irregular Choice, the name says it all. With explosions of feathers and patterned with everything from fur to ice creams, this individual brand christen their flamboyant products with titles such as ‘Abigail’s 3^rd Party’ and ‘Lego Quiche’.   

 6)      Julian Hakes

 Known as the ‘Mojito’ shoe, Julian Hakes’ daring creations win points for creativity by ditching the ‘shoe’ part altogether! Ergonomically designing his shoes to perfectly support the ball and the heel of the wearer’s foot, these carbon fibre creations have no need at all for the traditional shoe plate, instead wrapping around the foot.

 7)      Krispy Kreme

Claiming to offer a ‘summer break to busy cities’ these promotional flip flops were given out to commuters in hope of reducing stress levels. Thought to give down-in-the-dumps corporate-types a morale boost, the unique promotional footwear contains more than 5,000 blades of grass, and takes up to three weeks to take on full bloom.

8)      Vibram Footwear

 Offering versatility, grip and more protection than you’d expect from something that looks like a cross between a foot and climbing gear, these revolutionary work-out shoes are designed to promote healthy feet by allowing them to ‘move freely’.

9)      Poitr Dluzusniewski

Possibly the only thing more uncomfortable than working out how to say the designer’s last name, these metal shoes were created with carefully collected pieces of scrap metal and a hell of a lot of ambition.

10)  Roxanne Jackson

With a slightly more unusual take on taxidermy, Roxanne Jackson has created this pair of ‘inhuman’ hoof heels. The New York-based professor of ceramics specialises in ‘archetypal roles in the animal world’ and is well-known for her stunning (and occasionally slightly unnerving) creations.