LA Shoe of the Week

By Nalini Arora | Published: January 18, 2012

I can’t stop thinking about the Isabel Marant willow high tops. The willow high tops look fab styled here.  They are very cool, amazing, and I bet deliciously comfy! I have these and these by Isabel Marant and I can’t stop wearing them. Perfectly simple but stylish and comfortable. .

I’m not sure I can stomach $700 for a pair of sneakers. So, I may have to stick to my chuck taylor’s that I recently purchased.

What do you think? Would you pay $700 for  sneakers?

Have a lovely day!

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The Shearling Truth . . .

By Nalini Arora | Published: January 11, 2012

 

A few months ago, I was in search of some cool weather gear.  I found a fur vest that I added to my collection that made me feel like a little Eskimo. This vest got me thinking about fur, shearling, and anything fuzzy. I started my next sketching frenzy of boots inspired by Nordic and Native American influences.

I have always been curious of Nordic countries and cultures.  I envision beautiful landscapes, extreme cold weather, long dark nights, hearty food, strong cocktails, and lots of layered clothing.

 I was inspired by the idea of a Nordic girl who is feminine, edgy, and stylish. She likes her hiking and snow boots but would like to find a variety of interpretations of these looks.  My idea was to keep the hiker and snow boot elements, but add fashion details such as fur, shearling, rusching, buckles, wide shafts, color blocking, etc. . .

During the sketch process, it occurred to me that we always assume shearling as a possible lining. I thought it interesting to use shearling material as part of the upper, especially as a nice alternative to fur.

I am also inspired by Native American footwear. I especially love moccasins with hand crafted details. Being inspired by both Nordic and Native American arts, I thought it might be interesting to combine both of these cultural elements. I saw a common thread of survival and basic necessities.  In these sketches, I combined some hiker concepts with shearling lining and added the use of stitch details, bead work, and moccasin influences for an interesting and different look.

Photo Source: 1.) Editorial Images from Jean Francois Campos 2.) Black Picket Fences Tumbler  3.) Native American photos

Fur swatch: Pistolesi SRL

Products: Shearling Bag, Pete & Greta fur vest

All sketches & marker renderings by me.

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Criss cross & go under the bridge

By Nalini Arora | Published: January 3, 2012

Over the last two weeks, a few books have been added to our library. I wrote a post here about the latest illustration book added to the collection. Since that posting, I have come across another book that has been unexpectedly fun and informative called “The Man’s Book” by Thomas Fink.  This book is an essential guide for the modern man. Yes, this book was not meant for me. During a shopping trip to Ralph Lauren, my fiancé selected this book as part of his Christmas present.  I am quite grateful because this book contains many fun facts and topics with everyday essentials that may apply to both sexes.  One of fun topics discussed is fashion, and one of the fun facts; a diagram depicting eight ways to lace your shoes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I selected two of my favorites and laced the latest addition to my shoe collection, an all-black leather Converse.

 

 

 

Happy Lacing…..

 

 

 

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Happy New Year!

By Nalini Arora | Published: December 31, 2011

It’s amazing that very shortly we will be approaching a new year! Wow, this year went by so fast! 2011 was a year of change for me with lots of new experiences and lessons! I am  excited of the possibilities, new projects I will be working on, and utilizing what I learned this year and bringing great things with that knowledge into the new year. I hope you have a wonderful new year! I am looking forward to sharing my new adventures in 2012, and hearing about yours! Cheers!

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Illustration Inspiration

By Nalini Arora | Published: December 27, 2011

I know New Years resolutions can be kind of cliche and high pressure, so I am going to call mine New Year Goals. Two goals I created for myself for 2012 are to read more and work on more illustrations both shoes and fashion. I love to sketch and marker render but I really want to work with different mediums.

My fiance loves giving me books. He knows I truly appreciate and cherish any addition to my library. This Christmas I received my newest addition, Masters of Fashion Illustration by David Downton. This gorgeous book  shows lavish works of great Illustrators from the twentieth century such as Andy Warhol and Antonio Lopez. A great book to have for reference and inspiration. This book will definitely be a fantastic resource while building my own illustration style.

Here are some of my favorite illustrations from the book…

Here are some other books I “go to” regularly.

Looking forward to showing you my journey of  illustrations in 2012!

Cheers!

{ The Age of Feminine Drawing , Nine Heads by Nancy Reigelman, Colors of Modern Fashion by Nancy Rigelman, Manolo Blahnik Drawings, Manolo Blahnik New Shoes}

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A shoe holiday card for the shoe vivant!

By Nalini Arora | Published: December 23, 2011

Earlier this week, I posted The makings of a shoe holiday card where I showed you my inspiration for the 2011 holiday card. I envisioned taking ornament ideas and incorporating them into shoes with the idea that they too can be hung on a Christmas tree.

I promised to show you the actual card and voila, here you go!

The first image here is the actual artwork put together in photoshop.

As you can see, I added some glitter to a few of the ornaments.

I also added a few different ornaments that you did not see in the inspiration sketches. I realized its a must to add a round shiny bulb, so that was a last minute addition. It’s amazing how you can get inspired anytime and anywhere. I was driving thru Beverly Hills and peeked at the Ralph Lauren windows. I saw a beautiful tartan plaid window and thought, wow, a tartan plaid ballet could be an amazing addition to the card! Of course, I had to add a garland/tinsel strap.

Hope you have a wonderful holiday! Let it shoe, Let it shoe, Let it shoe!

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The makings of a shoe greeting card

By Nalini Arora | Published: December 19, 2011

The last few years, I have designed my own holiday card. You can see one design here. It’s important for me to add my personal touch to everything I do, and rather than buying a box of greeting cards, I opted to design my own.

During the last few weeks. I have been sketching little messy thumbnails in my sketchbook, and compiled a few ideas. After finalizing my thoughts and ideas,  I started to marker render a few of the shoes, and then started to work out the holiday card in photoshop.

I wanted to share my ideation with you. However, at the end of the week, you will see the final  card, so check back then! Cheers!

My fiance mentioned to me that during his trip to NYC, he saw some cute shoe ornaments at the MOMA. So, I thought it would be cool to create my own. I was inspired my some of the ornaments from Crate and Barrel.

Below you will find a few marker rendered shoe ornaments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on my 2011 holiday card. Check back Friday! Happy Holidays!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Chanel Pre-Fall 12 Paris Bombay

By Nalini Arora | Published: December 9, 2011

I would have loved to have a seat on this runway. Love the collection inspired by my peeps. I am half Indian so this is so wonderful and inspiring. An amazing take on Indian culture. Enjoy!

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Girls’ Boots and Booties

By Nalini Arora | Published: December 6, 2011

You may know from my previous posts that I have a strong passion for designing kids shoes. My shoe design career started in kids  footwear and it’s just an absolute blast for me to sit down and work out the different possibilities. It’s not as easy as it looks.  I actually find it quite challenging and fun at the same time!

With my consistent shopping, trend research, strong sense to identify and establish trends, I put some sketches together of kids concepts I see relevant in the future. Take a look.

Ankle booties are hot for women’s shoes and I definitely don’t see this trend going away. I love the idea of a modern western style bootie for kids. It has a more rounded toe, but the elements of a western shoe are present. Flowers are a must for girls. I thought it would be cool to do a quilted flower design and add mini flat head studs to give the quilting a more pronounced look. Love this in a suede and/or nubuck.

I fell in love with Miu Miu’s glitter and suede combinations this fall. We have seen the all over glitter explosion for kids in ballets and boots. I think it’s a nice touch to add some glitz but keep it minimal by combining a rich material like suede or nubuck.  I also like the idea of doing a crepe outsole with a zip up bootie. A nice update to the desert boots we have been seeing the past few seasons.

Moccasins are so comfy and playful. Although, I love the fringe, I think it’s great to work on other details to give the same moccasin feeling. Here, I utilized some heavy baseball stitching. I liked the idea of using some hardware subtly but also adding some fun with the feathers. I think the feathers give it a fresh touch!

For the past several seasons, we have seen low profile everywhere. However, I see heavier bottoms inching it’s way back up. Utilitarian looks are always great mixed with feminine details. Girls love fur! So, why not add it where it’s noticeable! Flowers, again, are important but, I wanted the not so obvious flower placement with raw edge, round flowers, and heavy contrast stitching.  Maybe a fun knit lining here would give it more pizazz!!!

What trends do you see hitting strong in the future??

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