Rachel Roy's business continues to go from strength to strength. Last year she worked on a special collaboration with basketball player, Amare Stoudemire and now, the designer confirmed that she is expanding into footwear.
The new collection, set to hit stores in August, will feature everything from heels and boots to sandals and flats with prices ranging from $195 to $600. "I don't want shoes unless they are strong and sexy...My collection is just that -- strong and sexy," she told WWD. "It represents the woman I want to be."
Our favourite vegetarian designer, Stella McCartney, has said she’s teamed up with the notorious Morrissey to launch a range of leather-free footwear. “I’m working with Morrissey on a line of leather-free shoes, which I’m really excited about. We are still in the early stages, but the shoes could be launched next year,” Stella told the Daily Mail last week.
Miss “Stella Steel” herself is renowned for supporting PETA and having never used fur or leather in her designs...remember her jacket for Adidas with ‘suitable for sporty vegetarians’ on the sleeve? So we’re not surprised to hear of the news on Stella’s end, but Morrissey? Ok, sure, he’s been an avid vegetarian since he was 11, but haven’t we seen him in leather before? In fact, the former Smiths singer often sported leather and suede footwear. “I find shoes difficult to be ethical about - one just can't seem to avoid leather. One is trapped, ultimately,” he once said, defending a favourite pair of suede moccasins given to him by Pete Burns. But not to worry, in 2006, Spin magazine reported that he had “gone leather-free”, so there’s no contradiction going on in this collaboration, just pretty, ethical shoes.
The twins' sophomore shoe effort is more downtown-Edwardian than grunge, which seemed to be the theme of the first footwear range. Think rocker ankle booties, slouchy lace-up boots and strappy flats for this time around. We kind of want every pair, and now we realise even more why the CFDA honoured the pair.
An equally valid question — how did America develop a passion for anti-fungal clown clogs so quickly? — is easier to answer. Every once in a while, we go nuts for colorful, plasticky, collectibly, disposable things. Remember Hula Hoops? Swatches? Cabbage Patch Kids? This time around, it was Crocs’ turn.
”The Smart Set, explaining that Crocs really might go bust if the company can't raise $22.4 million this week, remembers the frenzy the holed footwear caused circa 2006
There is a god, and said god hates hideous footwear as much as you and me. In the latest financial report for Crocs, the company's auditor expresses 'substantial doubt' about the business' ability to stay up and running in the current market. (Cue angel choir.) Perhaps no more plastic cheese graters on the feet?
Vogue loves her. We love her. Now you can love her, too. Sophie Gittins tells Fash Pack about training at Chloe, meeting Manolo Blahnik, and gaining a surprisingly sweet perspective from insects.
(Can you tell we're getting excited for some fabulous British designing at London Fashion Week?)
When did you start designing? It’s hard to say when I first started officially but I’ve always been altering things and adding details. Friday teatimes were normally dominated by me attempting some hideously complicated alteration to a dress of some description – I remember painstakingly spending hours stitching lace roses onto some shoes only to change my mind the next day and snip them off again.
There is a god, and said god hates hideous footwear as much as you and me. In the latest financial report for Crocs, the company's auditor 
