Tuesday, December 22, 2009

McQueen's shoes weren't meant for walking - Abbey Lee Kershaw


daniel jackson for dazed+confused via chic

Had a chat to Abbey Lee Kershaw Monday afternoon while she was working in Sydney. The details of the shoot are yet to be revealed, but I can share one of the more amusing model gossip gems to surface. When talking about how models navigate the runway in increasingly ludicrous designer shoes, we touched on the so-called 'armadillo' shoes from Alexander McQueen's S/S 2010 show (below). Wonder why we didn't see Kershaw, Sasha Pivovarova or Natasha Poly in the show? According to Kershaw, that's because after taking one look at the shoes, the supermod trio convened for a powow and decided to nix it.


alexander mcqueen SS10/style.com

With killer heels already causing one catwalk catastrophe for Kershaw at Rodarte in New York last September, followed by another near miss with similarly extreme shoes in February this year - the latter prompting her to skip the rest of the FW0910 season in order to nurse a knee injury - little wonder she was loathe to take the risk.

And all that's not counting, of course, the too-tight corset at McQueen's SS09 show one year earlier in Paris, in which Kershaw fainted.

17 comments:

Unknown said...

I love the Mcqueen shoes, I probably wouldn't wear them out, but maybe for show, or even fancy dress. Very iconic shoes, but I do agree with you. Good shot from the Blackberry.

J'aime
www.tinominosquared.blogspot.com

Sam Aldenton said...

This is a very interesting development in the modelvsshoe wars!

xxSAA

joseicouture said...

I would wear those shoes with denim shorts and a loose white shirt to a party or a fashionshow.

tomorrow started said...

hilarious! I can see that. we love McQueen, and the shoe is beautiful but I like to see it road tested! xx

balsamfir said...

The shoe is NOT beautiful, and I'm glad to hear a few models have brains to go with looks. Sexist brainwashing.

Anonymous said...

i would have refused to walk in them too!

Abbey Lee looks terrific in the Dazed shoot, such great casting and terrific styling.

your blog is fantastic x

Jessy
www.wideawakethoughts.wordpress.com

Waldo said...

I'm sorry - this guy hates women!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Those shoes are the ugliest things I've ever seen.

Anonymous said...

Looks weird. A torture tool that deserves to be officially labeled "McQueen's Hoof".

Anonymous said...

I believe, these shoes are thought up not for walking along the street. This is art, instead of workmanship. Therefore models arrive nonprofessionally, refusing the direct duties.

chibi said...

those are ugly as sin, and good on them having half a brain not to try walking in that. they look like damn hooves.

Anonymous said...

This is not art. I have never seen anything so repellent to look at, among shoes or anything else thought by a human mind.

Boxofboxes said...

There's art, there's style and then there's haute-torture.
I'm not aversed to killer heels; but I wouldn't blame anyone, professional models or not for drawing the line at these McQueen shoes.
It actually reminds me a bit of ancient chinese foot-binding custom. “Bound feet limits a woman’s mobility and therefore her ability to take part in politics, social life, and the world at large. Bound feet rendered women dependent on their families, particularly their men, and therefore became an alluring symbol of chastity and male ownership, since a woman was largely restricted to her home and could not venture far without an escort or the help of watchful servants.”
Nice one, McQueen!
Sure, Lady Gaga wore them in her music video but A) it’s a music video and b)should anyone really be taking sartorial tips from a person who seems to constantly forget to wear pants when she leaves the house?
Coco Chanel gave women their bodies back with her designs. Now we shouldn't be giving them away in the name of "art".
I swear, the next time someone tells me that a ridiculous piece of clothing is "art", I'm going to stick the Mona Lisa over my head and go - "voila!"

Adriana Mia said...

These shoes are amazinggg! Everyone above who said that they are not "art" does not even deserve to be surfing fashion blogs and offering your most unnecessary and fashionably retarded opinions. Especially the guy saying we should not appreciate these shoes because Lady GaGa wore them in Bad Romance and she likes to wear crazy costumes? Im sorry but I would take GaGa's opinion on fashion 2billion times over before I took that of some unknowledgable little boy whose opinion counts for just about.. nothing. if a model such as Kershaw falls in two different fashion shows from "dangerous heels" then im sorry but she should really give up her day job. that is probably the most difficult task that they even have to face and shes going to bitch about it? good luck getting casted in future shows hun because i can bet the world that jimmy choo, manolo, etc will be following this trend of extreme heels. there were at least 20 more or less models in this show, whose names are not as well known as that of Kershaw, and they all walked just fine in these shoes. it just takes some practice which should not be too much to ask of a RUNWAY model. after all what else do you have to practice for? I myself as a male that dresses and lives my life as a male am tempted to have McQueen custom make me a pair in size 13 and i would wear them just about anywhere because of how unique they are. and as for the challenge of walking in these, i dressed up in drag for my first time at an all day dance music event called LoveFest and I wore an 8"pair of Xtreme 808s filled with glitter. and having never worn heels before I did a damn good job walking dancing and jumping around in them all day. if i could do it with very little practice theres no reason in hell runway models cant make a quick walk down the aisle in them. get over it really.

minklove said...

i found an article in the Australian paper talking about her new boyfriend last week, i was soooo curious to find out who the guy was? Anyhow, his name is Matthew Hutchinson and he is from the Australian band Our Mountain. I think they used to be called Whiskey Go Go's or something? Very very cool music, here is a picture! He is soooooo hot! he looks dark but so so good looking

http://www.myspace.com/ourmountainourmountain

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Research papers said...

I gotta hand it to whoever wrote this, you've really kept me updated! Now, let's just hope that I can come across another blog just as interesting :)

Max said...

I am behaving like the girl from Charlie & teh Chocolate factory..

Daddy I want them..i want them..hahahaha

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