16 - Sunday, February 2, 1992 —- North Shore News

FASHION

Stepping out in style

FASHION STATEMENTS

RARE FOOTAGE is found
this season in the city’s
most stylish shoe shops.
Two of Canada’s most suc-
cessful. footwear designers,
both based in Vancouver,
reveal their latest creations.
Each unique style is viewed
as a shoemaker’s master-
piece, designed on hand-
made wooden forms called
lasts.. :

A glance in the windows of
Peter Fox Shoes and John
Fluevog Shoes boutiques reveals
the future trends for the ’90s in a
nutshell, The shoes of Peter Fox
and John Finevog are a barometer
for style. When their heels go up,
you know that the heels of the
masses will also rise.

Style at street level puts new
emphasis on their shoes, since
fashion in 1992 does not stop at
the knee. Hemiines soar to rcveal
the leg, and give statement-mak.
ing footwear the spotlight. :

The fastest way to change the

_ character and mood of clothing is
with shoes. Especially when per-
sonalizing a wardrobe has become
a prerequisite to stylish dressing,
these accessories are chosen with
as much care as any: other invest-
ment. .

* Whiat’s in store for footwear?

Shape, texture and color battle
‘for supremacy in boots and shoes.
Vancouver footwear takes on
crazy new shapes that rival
. footwear worn on the streets of
Europe. Pointed toes become
refined, little-girl round toes
return, and squared toes make an
appearance, all. creating a diverse
selection for any taste.

But the real fashion news is in
the details. Exaggerated Louis
heels and spool-shaped heels
become stylized. Platform soles
are on the rise. Large tied bows,
T-straps, laces and novelty
buckles remain popular. Extreme-
ly high vamps crawl up to the
ankle. And  curvacious insteps
flatter the lines of the foot.

Texture makes a visual impact.
Rich matte suedes, butter soft
lambskins, and fabrics such as
grosgrain, duppioni silk and can-
vas add interest. Leather is given
added surface interest with brogue
and wing-tip effects, woven strips
of feather, eyelet-hole punching,
stitching detail and elastic inserts.

Here is a look, from the ground
up, at Vancouver’s best in shoe
design.

_ The Fox and Fluevog phenom-
enon has graced the city for more
than 20 years, when the two tal-
ents were in partnership at Fox
and Fluevog Shoes. The firm was
first in Gastown and later on
Broadway and on Granville Street.

When the duo parted 10 years
ago, it was on friendly terms,
though both were anxious to grow
as they were both heading. in dif-
ferent directions. :

’ store

FASHIONS BEGIN at the ground up.The shoes of Peter Fox and John Fluevog are a barometer for

Fox marched off to New York
as a designer of fine quality
footwear. Fluevog remained in
Vancouver and began to design
his own unique line.

JOHN FLUEVOG

The name of the original store
was later changed to John Fluevog
Shoes, and slowly Fluevog’s own
collection dominated the other
lines in his store. He began carv-
ing out his successful niche about
five years ago with the hip urban
youngsters, catering to a crowd of

_ both up-to-the-minute fashion

and anti-fashion followers.

The shoe icon now has his own
in Boston, Toronto and
Seattle and is currently opening a
fifth location in Soho, New York
City. Fluevog also wholesales his
shoes to stores across North
America and Europe, and receives
mail orders from Australia, Hong
Kong and Japan.

Fluevog, whose name isn’t real-
ly Fluevog, was born in Van-
couver in 1948. His insatiable
need to be different can be traced
to his Norwegian grandfather,
who changed his name from
Neilsen to Fluevog when he came
to Canada simply because he felt
there were too many Neilsens.

Fluevog’s innovative shoes are
geared to a particular market of
youngsters, men and women in
their early teens to late 20s. How-
ever, Fluevog’s wife, Ingrid, states
that 10 and 11-year-olds come in-

to the store with their own money
to buy Fluevog shoes and that
men and women over 30, such as
herself, also wear Fluevog shoes.

Fluevog, who is a Christian,
takes his design inspiration from
dreams, and from his own
“beautiful visions,’”” and promises
to provide solid footing for to-
day’s youth, both physically and
spiritually.

His most recent promotional
campaign exclaims, ‘Don’t let
your feet commit Sins of the
Flesh! Are you tormented by sin?
Feet. everywhere are committing
sins of the flesh without their
owners even knowing.

“Dull, repetitive shoe styles
abound, forcing. the feet of the
fashionable to commit the sin of
conformity. John Fluevog’s
breathtakingly original shoes offer
new hope to those poor soles
yearning for fashion salvation.”’

His designs may not be ap-
propriate for the average shoe
wearer. The overwhelmingly posi-
tive publicity he receives, however,
proves that his market is a loyal
one, and the only one he wants.

USA Today reported, ‘‘The
shoes of the moment are the cre-
ations of John Fluevog, rising-
star shoemaker playing footsie
with trendsetting Madonna and
Dee-lite’s Lady Miss Kier.
Madonna steps out in his enor-
mous platforms of black suede,
Kier loves the same shoe in °60-
ish orange patent leather. Now
he’s considered the most avant
garde shoemaker around.”’

‘style, and when their heels go up, you know that the heels of the masses will also rise.

Womens Wear Daily recently
described his shoes, featured in a
New York fashion show with
clothing designer Anna Sui, as
“the perfect shoe.’? And the Los
Angeles Times states, ‘“We found
some totally excellent shoes for
men and women ~ from John
Fluevog, who is to shoes what
Edward Scissorhands is to hair-
dos.’” .

His tongue-in-cheek mail order
brochure, which takes on a new
theme each season, is currently
titled John Fluevog’s Guide to Sin
and Great Shoe Catalogue. It of-
fers the following shoe styles, as
well as ‘‘a handy field guide to
some of today’s more popular sins
so that shoe users everywhere can
constantly stay two feet ahead of
the devil.” Lo.

To order the catalogue, phone
688-2828.

PETER FOX

Peter Fox shoes, on the other
hand, appeal to a different market
than Fluevog shoes. About the
only shoe wearers who wouldn’t
commit homicide to have a pair of
Peter Fox shoes are loyal
Fluevog-ers.

His shoes appeal to the elegant,
sophisticated individual who de-
mands attention, and gets it. His
market is women, and not men,
from 25 to 50 who can afford, or
sctimp to afford, the $300 per
pair creations.

Fox is one of the few shoe de-
signers who builds his footwear up

.damask fabric,

from the lasts (wooden forms) and
heels that he carves himself. Re-
maining true to his craft, Fox uses
natural tanned and waxed Italian
kid and calfskin to form into
flats, sandals and boots with
stacked leather heels, refined
Louis and spool-shaped heels,
butted seams and extended welted
edges. The shoes are manufac-
tured in Italy at a contracted
leather firm.

Born in Britain in 1934, Fox
laid the foundations for his
shoemaking career in 1956. After
his partnership with Fluevog
dissolved, he began his own firm
in 1981. He moved. to New York
City and opened his first - Peter
Fox Shoes Ltd. shop there. Fox
now resides in Vancouver.

Today, there are five additional
Peter Fox stores, including two
more outlets in New York, one
being exclusively bridal shoes, one
in Santa Monica, Toronto and
Vancouver.

Fox now has a partnership with
his wife, Linda. Whereas Fox
crafts, designs and markets the
shoes, Linda selects color, fabric
and detailing of the shoes and
merchandises their stores. ‘

Fox states that his footwear is
designed with fit as its first priori-
ty, and the actual style is created
by the form-fitting shape. ;

The cut of the soles corresponds
to the shape of the natural: fcot
which is curved slightly : inward.
Fashion may follow function in
his shoes, but it certainly does not.
getleft behind. -~ :

Though Fox describes his shoes
as “‘timeless,”? the designs are .
fashion forward. _

The Peter Fox label is . well
recognized for its romantic, . his-
toric inspiration, including 19th
century Victorian, Raphaclite and
early 20th century Edwardian style -
boots and shoes. Though the
shoes are heavily influenced by the
silhouettes, attention to detail and
quality construction of the - past,
their design concepts are : also.
futuristic. The result is shoes that
are truly un-dateable. - -

The new Fox line includes calf,
kid suede, nubuck and dupionni
silk designs in deep rich colors
which will continue. throughout
1992. Color blocking will be: pop- .
ular, as well as textural. blocking
in which different fabrics of the
same color are played side by side.

The signature Peter Fox ‘fitted
granny boots make a return in.
1992, with other pointed toe and
slightly squared toe-shaped shoes
and boots. Spooi-shaped * heels |
and_ squat Louis heels remain in
the collection with the addition of
a@ new and_ totally round heel,
which was introduced for spring. .

Fun flats with squat round heels - |

get punched leather eyelet treat-..”
ments, and refined %-inch plat-
forms with four-inch flared heels
are shown: with rounded .or
peak-a-boo, cut-out toes.

Fox concentrates on the brid-
alwear market, devoting an entire
store to bridal shoes, which are
also available in several other
locations including the Vancouver
boutique. Fox has designed over
100 styles in silk, satin, damask,
lace and pearlized leathers, which
cater to the demands of the indi-
vidualistic bride.

The Bridal Shoe Collection
features boots and shoes with silk
and lace rosettes, satin bows and
intricate beadwork.

Fox’s trademark fan-shaped
bridal pump, which is subtly
beaded and covered in white
was recently
featured in the movie The Butch-
er’s Wife,-when star Demi Moore
casually slipped the delicate shoes. _

on to her soiled bare feet, and.

wore them to work at the butcher _
shop. an