Author(s): Colin McDowell

Art, Craft and Design

Colin McDowell looks at the exclusive world of the bespoke shoemaker, charts the rise of quality mass manufacture and highlights the world of the great designers, such as Perugia and Ferragamo, as well as those of today: Vivier, Clergerie and Blahnik, and their counterparts in the new generation of shoe designers. He also delves into the darker realms of fetishism and imagination, revealing the place of high-heeled shoes and tightly-laced boots as objects of erotic fantasy, and their relation to the fairytale images of Cinderella's slipper and seven-league boots.