Dries Van Noten Denim Derby

via selectism

These are from the s/s 11 season. Pretty crazy but a novel use of denim.

Dries Van Noten s/s 11

via jak&jil

via vogue & style.com

I've been wanting to post about these for a while. The clashing patterns and textures on the Dries Van Noten s/s 11 footwear are insane. The florals in the 'light' inspired collection were very beautiful and worked especially well on those almost wedge heels.

Dries Van Noten Oxford Shoe

via brownsfashion

Oh, what a little brogueing can do.

Dries Van Noten s/s 11 Boots

via hypebeast

The Dries Van Noten show is typical of what most of this season has looked like to me. A beautiful collection with some very nice but rather boring footwear. The collections have all been perfectly wearable, and a perfect example are these perfect boots. I was hoping for a little more excitement than this. The frustrating thing is that it can be difficult to find good images of a lot of the footwear in new season shows, and I'm sure there will be some absolute gems, but for now perfect will have to do.

Mens Sling-Backs

via luisaviaroma, gq.com & theshoebuff

Lanvin (top) and Dries Van Noten (bottom) both showed mens sling-backs in their s/s 10 shows. I know most people will hate these but most people can just shut the hell up. I think I like them because I kinda like sandals but I kinda hate toes. Happy medium.

Love

via jak&jil

I love how much Jak & Jil blog loves shoes. Oh, and we both love Dries Van Noten.

Dries Van Noten f/w 10

via style.com

Dries Van Noten is one of my regular favorites, and his f/w 2010 women's RTW collection did not disappoint. I love his perennial eclecticism, which in this collection translated to some lovely conrasts of masculine looks with beading, and exoticism with somber colours (a trend appearing even more than usual this f/w.) I'm also a sucker for those almost-wedge heels reminicent of Jil Sander f/w 07.

The Straps of Spring 09

The stap trend that was quite prevalent in s/s 09 mens shoes had very mixed reviews. I don't know exactly how I feel about it, but I do think it is an interesting idea. One of the reasons is the different ways it is used have quite varied effects. I like its use at Louis Vuitton where it hides the construction of the shoe. It could be an oxford, or a derby, or a whole-cut, but this is neatly hidden away. In the YSL I like that the grosgrain is not limited to the strap, but also used along the topline. At Prada the rubber bands circle the whole shoe, and at Dries Van Noten a buckled leather strap covers a brogue which make them seem like an afterthought. This is not necessarily a bad thing - just interesting.

top to bottom:
Louis Vuitton via gq.com
Dries Van Noten via selectism
Yves Saint Laurent via ysl.com
Prada Campaign featuring Louis Simonon and Claude Simonon, shot by Hedi Slimane via prada.com

Dries Van Noten s/s 10 Shoes

via rawshoes

via style.com

via gq.com

Dries Van Noten offered up an eclectic array of shoes in his mens and womens collections for s/s 10. Raffia, snake, patent, fabric, elastic, laces, buckles, slingbacks, black, brown, tan, cream, patterns - it's all there. Hold two shoes from the mens collection up next to each other and you would have no idea that they were from the same show but as a whole they totally work. The womens shoes have the element of the heel, that is at once understated and distinctive - a very hard thing to accomplish. Variety is the spice of life, and this shit is HOT!