AnOther Loves: A Subversive, Corset-Inspired Boot

Part of Jimmy Choo's 30th anniversary collection, the Scarlett 95 ankle boot proffers whipstitch leather ties knotted through a paradoxically delicate lingerie lace body

A shoe with laces is a fairly standard offering, but Sandra Choi at Jimmy Choo reinvents the notion, as she has bucked at so many footwear conventions in her 30 years (and counting) as creative head of the label. No standard Oxford or brogue, this offering, from Choo’s coincidental rather than celebratory 30th anniversary collection, has laces on top of laces, namely corset-inspired whipstitch leather ties knotted through a paradoxically delicate lingerie lace body. Leather and lace could be very Dolly Parton – may she rest in peace – but here they are given a subversive, somewhat gothic edge. The sharply pointed vamp and slender heel also knowingly throw back to the 1990s, when the brand was born. There’s also a bit of surrealism at play – fitting, given that Salvador Dalí was obsessed enough with shoes to displace one to the head (a collaboration, famously, with the couturier Elsa Schiaparelli). The shoe here stays underfoot, but the unreal element comes through in the Drop heel – literally resembling a shoe magically balanced on a mercurial, liquid drip, rather than anything sturdy. Luckily, its immateriality is in appearance only – these boots, as Parton didn’t sing, were made for walking. 

The Jimmy Choo Scarlett Ankle Boot 95 is available to buy now.