Le Shouvre

This week a considerable chunk of my time was spent customizing two pairs of shoes, that this weekend will travel the length of the Atlantic, all the way to Peru.

The first pair, somewhat-inappropriately called “Swipes” (it sounded right, even though none of the word’s definitions really fit the design), are bright and eye-catching; swirls of primary colours contrasting with patches of the original brilliant white canvas. They are intended for the upcoming Peruvian summer – months spent sitting by the beach, the great Pacific rollers crashing into the shore beyond your wonderfully playful espadrilles, Pisco Sour in hand, and a tasty cebiche in your stomach. Ahhh, I can see it now…

More pics here

What better way to improve a pair of espadrilles than by adding some exotic animals?

These animals know better than to come out in the light of day, though. Here they can be observed in their natural habitats (well, some may argue that giraffes don’t venture into jungles, but this one certainly has), going about their business. Tigers are sneaky characters; only the infamous striped tail gives away his hiding spot. A large, colourful parrot perches in the trees, a snake slithers its way through the branches, and a toucan watches intently as a giraffe rummages through the treetops in search of some lunch. And just when least expected, a crocodile emerges from its watery habitat to snap its jaws at something – we can only guess what…

Given the size of the espadrilles, there wasn’t a huge amount of space to work with, and wanting to leave ample parts of the canvas unpainted, this seemed a better alternative to cramming all the animals in full onto the shoes.

More pics here

So I’m back in Paris now, after a nice relaxing week in Provence. While there, I came across an excellent local artist who calls himself LEXA. His gallery is in Ménerbes, a really picturesque hilltop village that looks out over the olive groves and pear trees in the valley. Sadly he himself was not in town when I visited, but I did meet his mum, who was very nice!

His style is very modern and distinct, so I’ll let the work speak for itself. His website is here

As the diagram above represents, I am journeying down to the south of France for a week, where the sun shall be plentiful, but the internet limited – so don’t expect much in the way of updates next week.

I’m also not taking any paints or blank shoes with me, as there are many other facets of my life that have been neglected as of late, that I must now devote some time to. Like reading. I never read these days – so it’s time to take a step back and enjoy the finer things in life.

I will, however, be taking sketchbooks and pens/pencils etc., as there’s still lots of designing to be doing. I have several half-finished pairs that will need attention upon my return, as well as a healthy list of commissions to get through!

I’ll be back in Paris on the 18th of July. See you then!

This week has been a somewhat congested one here at Le Shouvre HQ; while trying to keep focused on behind-the-scenes activity, as well as dedicating a fair amount of time to outside obligations, not much actual shoe painting was done. Nevertheless, earlier today I found myself with a couple of hours on my hands, and an excess pair of espadrilles that happened to be in my size. So I undertook a Le Shouvre first: an entirely improvised shoe design.

Given that this was a first for me, and as with the nature of anything improvised, the risk of the end product being a little rough-around-the-edges was quite high. But it was fun to be working from start to finish under such time constraints – a properly commissioned pair can sometimes take me roughly 8-10 hours. Instead, I went straight to painting on the shoes, and made up the design as I went along.

The final product, I feel, reflects the time constraints. It’s not the most imaginative nor cleanest design by any stretch, but given that I only plan on wearing these espadrilles around the pool, I’m happy for them to be loud and a little over-the-top. I also played with the logo a bit by applying a curly, twirly font, which I think suits the design.

This is definitely not something I would do for a normal commission (unless specifically asked, of course!), but it was fun to try it out, given that I knew no one other than myself was going to be wearing the finished product. I hope I can try this sort of thing again… although it’s an expensive form of improvisation!

More pics here

I’m not sure if many (or any?) Australians have found themselves browsing through Le Shouvre, but if anyone reading this is indeed from down under, I came across this Australian brand recently, and some of their designs really caught my eye. I have no problem admitting that I’m a sucker for paisley, so it’s no surprise that I liked the design shown above, but a quick browse through their collections show proof of some other really interesting designs.

I prefer the pattern-based designs over the choices of cut, etc., and I love some of the hoodies that look like they have been hand-drawn. Plus, the website itself has a really cool layout.

One Teaspoon

The lovely people at POP were enthusiastic about having a pair made to honour their magazine, so I wanted to create a design that was as colourful and vibrant as the publication itself. I opted to stick to primary colours, but work in light pastel shades (after all, it is July). The background on the front of the shoe fades from a pasty white-yellow through to a light salmon pink, whereas at the back a soft blue is punctuated by strips of light red.

The two main motifs in the design are the POP logo itself, which is built around the Escher  or “Impossible” Triangle, and the isometric cubes that often feature in my other designs. The latter morphs into the former, which then becomes part of the POP logo.

More pics here

My Wimbledon obsession reaches its apex today, with the revealing of a new pair of shoes. As I said in an earlier post, I wanted the design to be clean and crisp, leaving a lot of white space.

The end result is quite minimal – especially considering I normally like to cover the majority of the front of the shoe, but it makes for a nice change from those busy designs. I stuck with the emerald green and dark purple colour combination, and used a lot of straight lines (which can be a pain to paint on a curved surface), and I’m happy to say that they came out just as I’d hoped.

One variation from the original conception was that I thought it apt to use Fred Perry shoes, or perhaps Keds, but Johnny (the owner of the pair) opted for a more affordable brand (Fred Perry can be pretty expensive in France) – although to be honest, as far as I can tell the shoes themselves are practically identical to their more-expensive Keds equivalents.

On the left heel, I painted a Le Shouvre logo, this time with a tennis ball as the “O”. Unfortunately the brush that I normally use for lettering had frayed, so I had to use a thicker one, resulting in slightly uneven text – but I just got a new brush this morning, so hopefully that won’t happen again!

More pics here

I was talking to someone at the weekend who thought that I should be designing/painting Michael Jackson-themed shoes like crazy, and then selling them off like hotcakes, while his death is still fresh in everyone’s minds. While this may indeed be a profitable bandwagon to jump on right now, it’s not something I particularly want Le Shouvre to be involved in. But since several people have asked, here’s my view on the matter…

Much of the customized clothing world has understandably jumped at the chance to sell unofficial merchandise in light of M.J.’s death, but I don’t want Le Shouvre to follow suit. If someone had commissioned a pair of Michael Jackson-inspired shoes at any point prior to his death, I would gladly have done them, and the same still applies. The important thing (for me, at least), is that I’m not going to design such shoes unless someone orders a pair. This may not seem like it’s very different, but I feel that if I suddenly made ten pairs of limited-edition Michael Jackson shoes solely because he just died, and then sold them as if they were commissions, I’d basically be trying to make a profit out of his death.

So, if you’re interested in a pair of Michael Jackson themed shoes, by all means send me an email via the Commission form, and I’ll gladly design something to suit your preferences. However, the design will remain unique and one-of-a-kind; what I’m not going to do is come up with a design now and sell the shoes off specifically because the world is mourning the loss of the King of Pop.

Have you ever been so angry that your rage becomes all-consuming, preventing you from being able to function? If so, allow me to suggest to you a method for venting such paralyzing emotions: writing eloquent, sophisticated prose. That’s what the folks at Hot Rant do, with hilarious results.

I highly recommend jumping across to Hot Rant, and browsing through their catalogue of tirades. The themes for their anger vary, but the vast majority of the time it’s something that you’ve probably been enraged by as well. (Also, there is clear evidence of Hot Rant co-founder Fred’s love/hate relationship with terrible 80′s action films, but judge that as you may.)

Best of all, they love having guest contributions. My Wimbledon obsession has awakened in me a distaste for the British media, so I sat down the other night and channeled my indignation into a hot rant of my own, which you can read here.

So if you’ve got a fury that can’t be soothed, get writing…

http://hotrant.blogspot.com/