Mcqueen Shoes Hk

[Lawana Stuckert]

We are generally able to complete basic repairs on Alexander McQueen shoes within 2-5 business days of receiving them at the workshop. This extends to 1-2 weeks for most specialist repairs and longer for more complex repairs and restorations.

If you will be using our free shipping service (rather than dropping off and picking up your shoes at the workshop), then you should also factor in shipping time via Australia Post. This varies depending on your location, but generally takes no more than a few business days if you're in a metropolitan area and otherwise up to 5 business days (if you're in a regional or remote area).

Yes, we stock a wide range of premium leather care products you can use to extend the life of your Alexander McQueen shoes. We'd be happy to ship these to you. Simply mention what you're looking for while completing our online order form (if you're also planning to get your shoes repaired), or reach out (if you're not planning to get your shoes repaired).

And whenever your shoes are in transit (whether on their way to our workshop via Australia Post or on the way back to you via courier), you'll have a parcel tracking number and receive real-time shipping notifications by email.

January 3, 2024 -- As we welcome the new year, I want to thank you for your readership of @theCenter. Your support and interest in our work at NCSC are deeply appreciated. I assure you that we will keep sharing valuable stories related to state courts and courts worldwide.

When my journey as president of NCSC began almost 20 years ago, I asked my predecessors, Ed McConnell, Larry Sipes, and Roger Warren, to send me a pair of their old shoes. I wanted to display them in my office as a symbolic reminder of their NCSC legacy. Ed, Larry, and Roger were highly respected figures in state courts, known for their innovative work and contributions to the field.

Today, lining a shelf in my office are a pair of Wing Tips, boots, Teva sandals, and my own black and white pumps. Their old shoes became my new ones, reminding me of the big shoes I had to fill. Regardless of their condition, seeing these shoes comforts me and reminds me that a journey has many steps.

Critical response to the armadillo heels was extensive, both immediately following the show and in retrospect. They are considered iconic in the context of the Plato's Atlantis show, McQueen's body of work, and in fashion history in general. Critics have referred to them as both grotesque and beautiful, sometimes in the same review. Much of the negative criticism focused on the height of the heel, which has been viewed as impractical, even unsafe. Other writers have explored the shoes as artistic statements. Pairs of armadillo heels have been featured in museum exhibitions, most prominently in the McQueen retrospective Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, first shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 2011.

British designer Alexander McQueen was known in the fashion industry for dramatic, theatrical fashion shows featuring imaginative, sometimes controversial designs.[1] He had designed extreme footwear for previous collections, including high platform shoes inspired by the Japanese geta and Venetian chopine for his Spring/Summer 2008 collection, La Dame Bleue, and houndstooth platforms for Autumn/Winter 2009, The Horn of Plenty.[2][3]

For his Spring/Summer 2010 collection, Plato's Atlantis, McQueen took inspiration from climate change and Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, envisioning a world where humans evolved to survive underwater after global flooding. The collection was presented on the catwalk at Paris Fashion Week on 6 October 2009.[4] The show began with designs that used earth tones and digitally printed animal skin patterns to invoke the appearance of land animals, and gradually transitioned into designs featuring abstract prints in aqua and blue, suggesting that the models were adapting to an increasingly submerged planet.[5][4][6] The show's final outfit, entitled "Neptune's Daughter", was covered entirely in enormous blue-green opalescent sequins, including the matching armadillo shoes. The outfit represented the final stage of humanity's adaptation to an underwater environment.[7] It was worn on the runway by Polina Kasina, who had long been McQueen's fit model.[8] Plato's Atlantis was McQueen's final fully realised collection; he died by suicide in 2010.[9][10]

The armadillo shoes are almost 12 inches (30 cm) from top to sole, with a 9-inch (23 cm) spike heel.[11][12] The vertical body of the shoe is shaped in a convex curve, which has been compared to the silhouette of an armadillo, lobster claw, or animal hoof.[13][14] Their shape is generally regarded as unique in high fashion, although museum curator Helen Persson found a precedent in the shape of Persian riding boots of the 16th century.[15][16]

The shoe hides the entire foot from ankle to toe, creating the illusion that the wearer is walking en pointe in the manner of a ballerina.[17][18] In actuality the ball of the foot rests at an angle on a concealed platform, with a small bulge above the toe to facilitate lifting the heavy shoe to walk.[19] In keeping with the animalistic theme of the collection, each pair is uniquely decorated in animal skin such as python skin or shagreen (rawhide from the cowtail stingray), or iridescent paillettes resembling scales.[9][20][21]

McQueen sketched the initial idea for the shoes in early 2009, taking inspiration from the work of British pop artist Allen Jones and Australian fashion designer Leigh Bowery.[14][22] He commissioned shoe designer Georgina Goodman to realise the concept.[17][23] Each pair was hand-carved from wood in Italy.[21] The Daily Beast reported that the complex manufacturing process "spanned five days and involved 30 people, using material from three suppliers and passing through three factories".[13] The inner lining and outer shell were shaped separately and fitted together; each section required two zippers for access.[21] For the original collection, 21 pairs were made, 20 of which were worn during the Plato's Atlantis October 2009 fashion show.[5][17]

Designed as showpieces, the shoes were never commercially produced, although many were sold to private buyers following the show.[13][21] The Alexander McQueen Archive in London retains ownership of at least five pairs, including the pair covered with iridescent scales worn in the final outfit of the show.[24] The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York City owns two pairs, one made from turquoise shagreen and another in black leather with metal accents.[19][20]

The unusual shape made walking in the shoes notoriously difficult. The show's producer, Sam Gainsbury, tested them the night before the show and found walking impossible. When she complained of this to McQueen and suggested the models were at risk of falling, the designer responded, "If they fall, they fall."[25] In the end, models Abbey Lee Kershaw, Natasha Poly and Sasha Pivovarova all declined to walk in Plato's Atlantis because of their concerns that the heels were too high to be safe.[26] In the 2018 documentary McQueen model Magdalena Frąckowiak said that she found walking in them "really frightening".[27] Despite these concerns, no models fell at the show, which was regarded as "miraculous" by the fashion press.[13][28] Shortly after the Plato's Atlantis show, staffers from British Vogue tested the shoes and found them difficult to walk in.[11] Months after the show McQueen confirmed in an interview with trade journal Women's Wear Daily that he had never tested the armadillos personally.[29] He made it clear that he was far less concerned with practicality than with visual effect, saying elsewhere, "The world needs fantasy, not reality. We have enough reality today."[17][29]

Celebrities have worn armadillo heels for red carpet appearances and photoshoots. The first of these was in November 2009, when British socialite Daphne Guinness wore a pair in nude-coloured leather and reported that they were "surprisingly comfortable".[13][30] Guinness also wore a pair of snakeskin armadillo boots in a shoot for Vogue Italia in February 2010.[31] American singer Kelis wore another nude leather pair on the red carpet in January 2010.[32] American actress Demi Moore wore a tan pair on the April 2010 cover of Harper's Bazaar.[33][34]

American singer Lady Gaga, who became a friend of McQueen's shortly before his suicide, premiered her 2009 single "Bad Romance" at the Plato's Atlantis show. For the single's music video, released November 2009, Gaga wore the opalescent "Neptune's Daughter" outfit that closed the Plato's Atlantis show, including the matching armadillo shoes.[35][36] Gaga wore a pair of armadillo heels in python skin when she arrived at the MTV Video Music Awards in September 2010; she described this look in 2018 as the top outfit of her career.[37][38] Later that month, she wore the same pair with a dress made of hair for a performance at The Oak Room at New York's Plaza Hotel.[39]

There is no diamond, no award, nothing I ever wanted more than a memory of my brief friendship with McQueen. I am sad every day that I enter my closet, knowing he is not here anymore to dazzle the world with his beautiful, dark, limitless, brave mind. These shoes are the only tangible piece I have left of our work together.

Critical reaction to the armadillo shoes was immediate and polarised. Many reviewers described them as both grotesque and beautiful in the same breath.[12][44] They were particularly noted for their complete visual departure from the natural structure of the human foot.[45][46][47] Critics often described the models as looking alien, monstrous, or inhuman while wearing them.[28][48] They are often described as an iconic element of the Plato's Atlantis collection and of McQueen's body of work in general.[16][49][50] In 2012, British Vogue called them one of the 20 all-time most iconic shoes.[51]

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