Stepping to fame with sumptuous shoes

Stepping to fame with sumptuous shoes

Muara Bagdja
Contributor
Jakarta

With inquisitive visitors peering into their glass cases, it's
initially difficult to make out the special features of the four
pairs of evening shoes on display at Plaza Indonesia, Central
Jakarta.

It's only on closer inspection that we see what sets them
apart from the sneakers, sandals, pumps and other examples of
regular footwear that the rest of us put on our feet.

First, these beautifully crafted shoes were once worn by
Hollywood actresses, shown in the photographs under their
respective cases, and second, they bear the brandname of one of
the world's most famous shoe designers.

Stuart Weitzman counts a long list of entertainers as
customers, among them actresses Calista Flockheart and Halle
Berry, and singer Diana Ross. Although the 2003 Academy Awards
were a decidedly toned-down affair because of the war in Iraq, at
least 15 Hollywood stars wore his designs.

"He is dubbed the 'king' of evening shoes," said Evelin
Setiadi, brand manager for the shoe designer in Indonesia.

"His unique works are seen as having artistic value, which
makes them worth displaying in this plaza's Art in the City
program to commemorate Jakarta's anniversary this month."

Of the shoes exhibited at the boutique, those worn by Laura
Harring at the 2002 Oscars stand out. The Mulholland Drive star
donned strapped sandals with 464-carat diamonds, and photos of
the "one-million-dollar shoes" made the front pages of newspapers
around the world.

Visitors to the exhibition will have to be satisified with
another, less expensive version of the shoes, as Harring's pair
were sold at auction in London. Even without the teardrop
earrings, one can imagine the drop-dead glamor of the originals.

The next pair on exhibit, named "Divine", pays homage to the
beautiful feet of Oscar-winning Halle Berry, who wore black
leather strapped sandals to the Wish Night program in 2002. There
are also the "Delirious Dyed Sky Blue" satin sandals that singer-
actress Queen Latifah wore to this year's Oscars.

It's not only actresses who rely on sumptuous pumps,
glittering mules or studded stilettos to help them put their best
foot forward. In the expert hands of a designer like Weitzman,
the shoes take on a character of their own.

The son of a shoe designer who originally worked on Wall
Street, Weitzman is nicknamed the "master of mix" or "master of
craftsmanship" for his skill in combining leather with other
materials.

"I've always enjoyed working with innovative materials.
Lucite, natural cork, vinyl, wallpaper, 24-carat gold -- there
are many interesting mediums for the art of making shoes,"
Weitzman said on his homepage, www.stuartweitzman.com.

Among such products are the "Nuclear shoes", the last pair on
exhibit. Worn by Minnie Driver to the 1998 Screen Actors Guild
Awards ceremony, they take the form of leather sandals with
transparent plastic straps.

Creations like Weitzman's shoes have come a long way from
their original, practical function to protect human feet and
emerged as an art form.

In 3500 BC, "the Egyptians made imprints of their feet in wet
sand, molded braided papyrus into soles of the same size and
attached rawhide thongs to keep them on the foot", writes Linda
O'Keeffe in her book, Shoes: A Celebration of Pumps, Sandals,
Slippers & More.

In the Roman era, people began to use slippers. Native
Americans in the United States created moccasins, which have now
developed into loafers.

O'Keefe notes that the first record of a pair of heels worn
for reasons of vanity was in 1533, when Catherine de Medici
brought heeled shoes from Florence to Paris for her marriage to
the Duke of Orleans.

Her example set off a trend among ladies of the court.

The fact that the right pair of shoes can change one's life is
shown in the story behind Harring and her pricy pumps. According
to www.fashiondish.com, Harring's stylist, George Blodwell, was
responsible for turning the little-known actress into an
overnight sensation.

Blodwell negotiated with Weitzman, who was seeking an actress
suited to his creation and had in fact contacted Sharon Stone.

But Harring was finally chosen, and the stylist picked out
Giorgio Armani's column dress to accentuate the shoes. He tied
the gown to the waist to raise it a bit so that the diamond shoes
were more noticeable, and Harring and her shoes became the talk
of the town.

Publicity around such an event not only serves to raise the
status and popularity of the artist, but also enhances
recognition of the value of shoes in society.

Unfortunately, the exhibition does not do justice to the shoes
or their designer. They are presented too simplistically to
inform visitors about the shoes' art, glamor and value. Although
the exhibition is a peak into the brilliance of the designer, it
fails to pay him proper homage.