Shanghai the big absentee in Spirits of Capitals luxury shoe collection
21/04/2011
At the New York launch, in the Hermès men’s store on Madison Avenue, John Lobb explained that the idea behind Spirits of Capitals was to design shoes that would embody the character of the cities (which, curiously, are not all capitals): Taipei, New York, Tokyo, Paris, London, Hong Kong, Moscow, Beijing, Dubai, Seoul and Geneva. The project involved a team of designers and shoemakers at the atelier the company runs in Paris.
An exhibition of the shoes is scheduled to travel to each of the remaining cities over the next year; Paris, Moscow, Dubai, Taipei, London, Geneva, Seoul, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo.
Observers have remarked on the predominance of Asian cities. The shoes in each case attempt to display details reflective of each one. For example, one of the designs for Seoul is a light-coloured Oxford with thin leather laces, while one of the Taipei designs is a platform moccasin with a decorative tassel, and one of those for Dubai is a sandal with lambskin insole. An Oxford for Hong Kong uses crocodile leather among the materials and one for Beijing comes in calfskin. Shanghai may be the most notable absence among the list of cities included, especially considering that John Lobb’s first flagship store in mainland China opened in the coastal city’s Plaza 66 mall towards the end of last year.
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