From kick-flare heels to runway-ready collaborations, meet the next generation of shoe designers leaving their footprint on the fashion industry.
If anyone deserves the credit for making mules great again, it’s Turkish-born, London-based shoe designer Dora Teymur. The famous slipper silhouette most often associated with Disney princesses and Marie Antoinette quickly became the basis of the young designer’s first collections at London College of Fashion and a staple of the eponymous label he founded in 2012.
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What was your favourite pair of shoes as a kid?
Brown suede Harley-Davidson biker boots. They had a huge eagle embroidery on the side.
Who—real or fictional—was your first point of style reference?
I carefully observed everyone that caught my attention.
How did you come to realise that shoes could be a viable career option for you, a way of actually making a living?
I recall, when I started designing, it was more about the big shoe names like Louboutin and their stilettos. And only the big brands were responsible for creating footwear trends. Then I found myself in the arena.
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What drew you to the mule? Why did this style of shoe speak to you so much?
It’s my Turkishness. Mules and slippers have a huge place in our culture. There is even a footwear category called ‘guest slippers,’ which are the slippers you offer to your guests to wear inside your house when they pay a visit. A proper household must offer a wide range of different slippers in different sizes and fabrics to its guests. That’s the attitude!
If you could design for any film or book character, who would it be?
I just watched Diana Ross in the remake of The Wiz. I would have loved to design the silver pumps she wore, and her entire wardrobe in Mahogany.
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What was on your mood board for SS20?
A few Louise Brooks portraits, Tokyo street style clippings, random funeral photos, and some vintage Halston looks for their beautiful colours.
Who do you have in mind when you put pen to paper?
That idea sounds too baroque and pre- Instagram. In the end, I design for everyone.
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What do you find is the most hindering aspect of designing in the fashion industry in this present moment?
I think the industry’s attention primarily on money-making more than storytelling.
And what’s the most positive aspect?
The new decade and the changes waiting for us.
If you had to sum up Dorateymur in a sentence, what would that sentence be?
It feeds your fantasies.
