A Glint In Your Step
by David Colman
published July 31, 2008
THE status sneaker, once a utilitarian object with a sole of rubber, is now practically fit for the Court of St. James’s. With such a warrant, is it any surprise that today’s haute cobblers would want to get into the game? Picking up on the silver and gold tones recently trotted out by Supra, Nike, Converse and others, fashion houses like Dior, Lanvin, Pierre Hardy and Gucci have come out with metallic sneakers, slip-ons and even low-heeled jazz shoes.
While the look is not new, it gathered major steam last year, said Bradley Carbone, an editor at Complex magazine, after
Jay-Z wore a pair of gold Supra Skytops in the Rihanna video for “Umbrella.” Since then, it has trickled down, if you will, to the high-fashion labels. Sneakerheads may sniff at the sight of European fashion houses following American sporting-good brands, but if you are going to shell out for sneakers, at least these look as if they’re worth it.
“These, you can really dress them up and wear them out,” Mr. Carbone said.
The look is so eye-catching that its arrival is hard to deny, even in a crowd. Several pairs were spotted this month at the downtown art-world opening-night blowout for “Pretty Ugly,” the group show at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise and the Maccarone gallery.
“They’ve definitely invaded my consciousness in the past month or so,” said Rob Pruitt, one of the artists in the show, and no stranger to metallic accents himself. For “Pretty Ugly,” he created an immense rectangle of shimmery black metallic paillettes titled “Prince William Sound, 1989” (a reference to the
Exxon Valdez spill), a nod to the dark side of glitter.
“I think the Homer Simpson in all of us is just drawn to things that are shiny,” he said.
Not to mention, to things that are Gucci.
