I’ve just finished these, after stretching their creation out over the better part of a week. This time last year I made a pair for Anna, but we only had an afternoon to come up with a design, and our materials were limited, so the result was simple, if a little rudimentary.

This time round, however, I took my time. I’d been wanting to paint a paisley pattern onto a pair of shoes for a while, and Anna wanted something in the vain of certain ETRO clothing designs. The result is a design that is complex enough to remain interesting, but hopefully clear enough that it doesn’t look messy from a distance. Some of the best paisley patterns (in my opinion) are extremely intricate, but I think that sort of detail would be lost on a pair of shoes, as the colours would look too chaotic and unorganised when viewed from a distance (as shoes generally are).

The colour scheme is clear but soft; the aim was to complement the curves, and the overall feminine feel of the design. Also, the initials “AD” are placed in amongst the patterns.

And for a bit of fun, I added a fake ETRO logo on the heel of the left shoe, mirrored by an “ANNA” logo on the right.

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