“The Mayfair boy has gotten a bit comfortable and has gotten a bit daring,” Jimmy Choo creative director Sandra Choi told us after the brand’s first full-on men’s runway show in London. Citing British photographer John Deakin’s black-and-white street portraits as a starting point for the Spring 2015 collection of mint green, croc-stamped deck shoes and patent loafers, she added, “He wants to venture out, definitely beyond the center of London. There’s more grit, but he’s relaxed.”
The overall look was dressed down, partly thanks to Katie Grand, who styled the shoes and bags with easy separates. A closer look at the shoes, however, revealed thoughtful details that were anything but casual. There were shiny silver and gold sneaker soles that, apparently, are treated in such a way to prevent fade. And that multicolored airbrushed accenting applied to a high-top dubbed Belgravia was no mere runway novelty: When the shoes hit stores, no two will be identical. As for the 3-D injection molded rubber brogue ornamentation on the toe caps of a traditional lace-up, Choi described it as “pure, but rich at the same time.”
The overall street theme left little room for polished dress shoes, save for the printed jacquard slipper topped with an emerald green tassel. Those had the most refined construction of the lot.
