Fendi's A/W11 Shoes

For autumn/winter 2011 at Fendi Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini Fendi referenced all of the stereotypical elements of 'sexy' teacher dress – frilly blouses, ribbed socks, headbands, tailoring and brogue Mary Janes – and gave them a brilliantly eccentric twist. The frill on her blouse was exaggerated and decorative, her ribbed socks came bagged at the knee in pops of colour, her headband softly spiked, the tailoring was quirky but chicly layered, and her Mary Janes came coloured in rich and burnt hues of burgundy, yellow, orange and bright metallic contrasted with heels of mint green, orange, lime and gold. Not afraid of using colour, prop stylist and accessories designer Fred Butler seemed the perfect creative to team with Fendi’s A/W11 inventively coloured Mary Jane shoes. Whilst Butler is renowned for wild and statement pieces, we were interested to see how she would interpret these more subtle and bookish objects. Here we talk to Butler about how she came up with her cacti creation, cited "Peyote tutti-frutti cutie", shot by photographer Kristin Vicari.

Describe your concept behind the set for these Fendi A/W11 shoes?
My work is instinctively about colour and these tan shoes reminded me of terracotta plant pots. The burgundy, deep red, orange and yellow of the tights in the show's styling also brought to mind the ridiculous faux flowers sold on cacti. I replicated my own cosmic interpretation of these blooms to compliment the shapes of the collection and then used the pattern embossed in the leather and the palette of the garments to paint the pots. I like to create site-specific scenarios so I contacted photographer Krisin Vicari as I’ve always wanted to shoot with her in her botanical filled home. Her apartment is decorated with lots of mint green flora which serve as the perfect backdrop for the set and is in-keeping with the wool felt coat and tote that I really liked. I didn't realise she had a man-hole cover situated in the middle of her exposed concrete floor which was a real bonus and became the main base for the little set. Kristin is also obsessed with high heels (I’ve never seen her wear anything else) so I knew she would enjoy this project.

Who do you see as the ideal wearer of a pair of these Fendi shoes?
This particular style of classic brogue shoe with a contemporary and quirky twist is something I could imagine my friend Rosy Nicholas wearing so I asked for her modeling skills and great pins to pose for the pictures. She has a mass of short curly locks and looked like Baby from Dirty Dancing standing in just the tights and her T-shirt tied up in a knot high on her waist. It was an accidental ‘look’ that appeared from the practicalities of shooting the shoes, which looked so good that Kristin took some personal shots of just Rosy looking hot in this strange mix.

What do they embody to you?
School girl chic – something I could also imagine Leith Clark wearing with a baby doll dress and round retro sunglasses. I don't have any brown in my monochrome wardrobe, so I would only opt for the gold metallic version when I have a ‘gold’ day!

Are there any other objects of desire from Fendi’s A/W11 collection that you are particularly coveting?
I'm really intrigued by the orchid shaped frills with their stiff swirling folds that button into a bib. I tried to make some of the paper flowers in the same formation but couldn't figure out the pattern cutting. They appear simple but must be a complex combination of panels with hidden seams or steamed into that position.

Click here to view the exclusive GIF that accompanies these stills..

Text and curation by Lucia Davies