Western designers have a tendency to borrow Chinese elements in their collection. For example, Louis Vuitton sent out a series of cheongsam dresses in SS2011 womenswear collection. But as a Chinese, I often see those designs too cliche, taking just the surface of rich Chinese heritage. I always wonder if a Chinese designer would do it in different way.
Kim Kioric, a new name (probably the first name) of Chinese shoe designer, created his first women’s collection based on Qing dynasty (1644-1911) shoes. His inspiration comes from Manchu horse-hoof shoes that were popular among Manchu women in Qing dynasty. It’s a early form of high heels in Chinese culture (see below).
V&A collection
Kim chose to mash it up with western classic men shoes design in his collection. It’s a truly modern east-meet-west interpretation. I can see these shoes on a woman’s feet without looking too literally Chinese.
In fact, this Shanghaiese designer have been designing shoes for Juun.J for a few seasons. As you may see, the sandal sneakers in SS2010 were actually pretty impressive. There seems to be a lot of deconstruction and reconstruction going on in his design. Let’s hope he can stay true to his direction and make a bigger step for the Chinese fashion.
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