Shoes

The designer duo behind eveningwear brand Badgley Mischka just launched shoes under their contemporary Mark and James line. We visited Mark and James (the men) for the launch at Bloomingdale's in New York to get a first peek at the very pretty and chic new shoe line — which retails for under $300 — and get the inside scoop on their inspiration.

FabSugar: Congratulations! What was the inspiration for the collection?
Mark Badgley: With Badgley Mischka collection, we're known for our evening clothes. So we launched our contemporary collection Mark and James for an edgier, younger, more fun customer.
James Mischka: Young Hollywood was calling us for dresses for premieres and parties so we started Mark and James to address those girls. The shoe collection just followed because it was taking the Badgley Mischka aesthetic of glamour and elegance and applying it to a more everyday kind of thing.

FS: You're known for dramatic eveningwear and embellishment. How do you apply that aesthetic to a contemporary collection?
MB+JM: The shoes are very feminine, with a thread of glamour. It could be a wedge, but done in a beautiful blush pink. There are a lot of naturals for Spring — wood, nubucks, leathers — applied to glamorous silhouettes. We're known for embellishment, so took nubuck and cut beautiful flowers. Some fabrics might even be on the crude side but we add feminine things to make it very us.

FS: Where do you see this girl wearing these shoes?
MB: Our girls wear these day to night. It's really a day collection, they're wearing them to the office, but they're fanciful enough to wear out at night.

FS: Why are women so obsessed with shoes?
MB: It's unbelievable, they are obsessed with shoes. Thank God they are! We did an event at a jewelry auction, where every woman was, pun intended, very well-heeled. They're worth billions of dollars. At the luncheon we gave them all shoes as a party gift. You would have thought we gave them the Hope diamond! It was a feeding frenzy. It was just so cute. No matter who they are, they just LOVE shoes.

FS: Do you have plans to do a Mark and James bridal line?
MB+JM: We would love to, although right now we're focused on this collection. But yes, it would be fun to do some quirky, frivolous styles for bridal.

>> If our sporty-chic Friday left you wanting more, peep our roundup of the best casual kicks for the warmer weather ahead of us. There's something for everyone — Maison Martin Margiela high tops for the ultimate sneaker head, Marc by Marc Jacobs sneaker wedges for those who prefer the extra height, pale pink Converse Jack Purcell canvas kicks . . . More Spring-perfect sporty footwear in the slideshow.

When Charlize Theron donned a neutral suede bootie with cropped cargos, we decided maybe it's time to stop wearing black shoes all the time. It looked fresh and light, just in time for Spring's warm weather, sheer, gauzy fabrics, and softer palette. These booties will go with everything, but they'll look killer with the season's short, flowy dresses. Check out our editor picks for five perfect neutral booties.

Barefoot running seems to be more than a passing trend; it seems everywhere I look, runners are wearing the Vibram 5 Finger gloves for your feet shoes. Many popular fitness shoe brands, following Nike's lead with it's line of Free running shoes, are responding to this craze by creating lightweight minimalist sneakers. These running shoes protect your feet without over cushioning them. Here are five sneakers that bridge the gap between heavily fortified running shoes and no shoes at all.

Ladies, make those pedicure appointments. We've handpicked 20 pairs of heels — from the sexy, strappy kind to the chunky, platform type — all ready to shop and wear. Need an outfit to go with them? Check out our Spring Need Now series, where we highlight the best in dresses, skirts, jackets, and jewels so you can look gorgeous in warmer weather.

>> Julian Louie's much-buzzed-about Spring 2011 Aldo shoes start hitting New York flagship stores and online today. (So far, there's one style online, the rest of the collection will be online and in nationwide stores starting April 18). And it's all thanks largely to a Fashion Week tweet from Joe Zee. "His excitement got Aldo very excited about it," Louie said last night at the collaboration launch, "And that's when we started talking about the possibility of launching at retail. That's how it all started." The shoes — the Deanna and the Sobeslava — each come in two variations; all retail for $125. And, according to Louie, they'll be in "stores in America, Canada, and the UK, Europe . . . It's big, it's huge."

The mishmash of textiles on the shoes was inspired by Pieter Hugo's photography book The Hyena & Other Men, the designer explains: "The photographs [are] of a group of men in Nigeria who were street entertainers, and they trained hyenas. They had these crazy outfits that were half American sportswear that they found and half really traditional tribal pieces with a lot of interesting textiles and tassels. So the whole collection was about the mix of those two ideas."

As for all the excitement at the launch last night — many a girl took away a pair — Louie says: "I never expected this response, truly. I am so excited. I keep seeing girls buying them, and I'm like, I hope I see you tomorrow! Hailing a cab, on the train, or something." And he already had celebration plans in the works, post-launch, at his favorite spot, Indochine.

Louie worked with Aldo again for Fall 2011 — "We did about 8 styles of shoes" — so can we expect those in stores, as well? "We still are discussing the details of production for Fall," he says. "I don't know exactly, but hopefully, fingers crossed this [Spring 2011 collection] gets a really great response at retail and they want to do it again. I hope it's the beginning of something that's ongoing." He added that he's already started work on the Spring 2012 collaboration in the meantime, and that Aldo has been "very supportive": "They gave me — it's like total freedom. I can't stress it enough how amazing it is. I keep thinking I wish every other aspect of my business was as easy as this relationship. I feel very, very lucky."

>> If you're looking for a little shoe inspiration, check out Jean-Michel Cazabat's Fall 2011 collection. The French cobbler concocted a collection for every occasion, ranging from sculptural, stacked-heel loafers for the chic office getup to embellished croc-print wedge booties for artier outings. Whichever forum currently calls, there's sure to be something to answer your needs. Check out the complete lookbook to see what we mean.