It’s always been said that imitation is the best form of flattery, but when designers take design inspiration from their peers, they are often dubbed copy cats. While perusing the Bergdorf Goodman shoe salon, two designs from fall 2012 caught my eye, not only because they were gorgeous but because they reminded me of shoes I’ve written about in the past.
In 2008 Thandie Newton and Carine Roitfeld both wore Azzedine Alaia’s stunning black eyelet lace up sandals, causing fashionistas to run to their nearest Nine West and Aldo stores for knockofs. Fast forward to 2012 and another designer has drawn inspiration from Alaia’s design. Italian footwear maker Giuseppe Zanotti presents the Lace-Up Scalloped Sandal ($1,195) which draws inspiration from the Alaia lace-ups from 2008. The shoes comes in both black and nude.
I fell in love with Burak Uyan’s footwear collection last year when I spotted it on Net-a-Porter. The Paris-based designer’s collection of statement making shoes grabbed the attention of Style.com last year and with good reason. His collection has contemporary silhouettes with pops of color, decadent textures like calf hair on leather, sexy stitching and multi-straps, a signature to the brand. Jimmy Choo’s Sepia Kid-Napa Colorblock Platform Pump from its fall 2012 collection has the same aesthetic as one of Burak’s pumps, with the exception of the two tone color, these shoes could be from the same designer at first glance.
