But today, there was the article on the Danny Sullivan, who designs the Irregular Choice shoes.
[T]hanks to British footwear designer Danny Sullivan, Irregular Choice means one thing and one thing only: Way cool kicks. Ever since Sullivan's little-company-that-could stormed these shores in 1999 with an initial order for 350 pairs of shoes, fashion-minded men and women across the country have been snapping up IC's witty, whimsical — and amazingly affordable — footwear in ever-increasing numbers. At last count, IC was selling more than 2,000 units a week in some 500+ stores in the U.S., including Urban Outfitters, Otto Tootsie Plohound, Trash & Vaudeville, Madison, Sole to Sole, Nordstrom and online at www.zappos.com.Manolo says, the Manolo he is sorry to say that the Irregular Choice shoes, they are not to the Manolo's taste. The shoes, they are perfect for the 13-year-old hottie, but for the grown-up, super fantastic woman, they are far too Hello Kitty. They are gimmicky, and will not stand the test of the time.
"In America, it really took off about two years ago," Sullivan told FWD from his company headquarters in Brighton, England. "I'm still [surprised] that we have done so well. They are great shoes and I love them, but I still think 'Oh my God, how did we sell so many of these?' It's mind blowing."
Mind blowing, yes. Surprising, no. Sullivan is passionate about his craft and is a slave to detail and elaborate embellishment, which shows in each and every shoe he crafts, from this season's black leather wedge-heel cow-punk boot with silver star inlays sprinkling the toes and a cartoon Astro-boy flying up the calf ($183) and pointy gold glitter kitten-heel pumps with blue and white ric-rac sequined trim ($93) to last summer's super-femme pink slingbacks festooned with baby blue bows and white-lace-trimmed vamp ($100).
"My goal is basically to be different and have some fun with the shoes — and to make fashionable shoes at Aldo prices," said Sullivan, who comes from a long line of footwear fanatics (his parents founded the well-known UK shoe companies Pod and Transport London, and Sullivan himself oversaw Everlast's sport shoe division before he launched Irregular Choice).
"That's the Irregular Choice concept," he added. "To try and not do the same [thing] everybody else is doing. You want to keep it fast and fashion-forward without being too over-the-top."
Manolo says, the Manolo he has the rules about the shoes and the fashion. First, you must always buy the quality, the best of the shoes you can afford.
Second, because you will be wearing these things for many seasons to come, you must try to find the items that they will look still good after the mania for the thing it has passed.
Manolo says, this is why the Manolo he tries to recommend the items that have the timeless feelings to them. The true fashion, it is found on the border between the classic and the edgy, not in the clown shoes for the cartoon characters.
