Fruit punch
Dip your toes into the latest trend, as colour blocking extends to accessories for spring,
In a season saturated with vibrant hues, shoes are the latest to get the colour-blocked treatment.
The heel, the platform, the upper and the strap, can all sport various colours, making for some very kaleidoscopic looking footwear.
If you happened to misplace a shoe, describing it — “hey have you seen my red pink orange shoe?” — becomes all that more challenging.
“It’s an entirely new way to wear the colour-blocked trend,” says Fashion Magazine’s Sarah Casselman.
Most women have difficulty navigating the pile-it-all-on colour trend — pairing a coloured blazer with a different coloured blouse with a pant of another colour. The multi-hued shoe seems an easier way to dip your toe in this fruit punch mix-up.
“A lot of women are still wearing black on top, so it’s easier to just add colour at your feet,” says Town Shoes spokesperson Crissi Giamos. “It’s like a piece of art.”
Not surprisingly, it was the art world that first inspired colourblocking in fashion decades ago.
In 1965, designer Yves Saint Laurent did a few simple mod-style dresses featuring blocks of primary colours inspired by the works of Piet Mondrian. The Dutch painter was renowned for his abstract paintings of intersecting black lines and coloured rectangles and Saint Laurent captured this graphic composition perfectly in three-dimensional frocks.
Years later, Mondrian — and YSL — continue to inspire fashion with colour-blocking.
Trendy accessory store Aldo has issued a purse this season in bold primary colours that looks like a Mondrian canvas.
But getting back to walking on blocks of colour, Casselman says a bold multicoloured shoe shows off your fashion personality.
“It shows you’re a risk-taker and have a strong sense of style.”
It also works year-round, she adds. “It can add a punch of colour at your feet to give life to wintery looks.”
But it seems this is one trend that will probably not entice people to go on a shopping spree.
“It’s a retailer’s nightmare,” laughs Giamos.
“Instead of buying several pairs of shoes in different colours, you might be tempted to just buy one multicoloured pair.”