By Jessica Jones
Author of the art shoe book Art and Sole and former executive vice president of Stewart Weitzman boutique, Jane Weitzman, will be signing copies of her book at Gus Mayer, Jan. 23 from 2-5 p.m.
The book features an introduction written by Weitzman followed by over 150 photographs of different “art shoes” that were discovered and commissioned by Weitzman, some of which have been displayed in the window of her husband’s, Stewart Weitzman, boutique on Madison Avenue in New York. The store began showcasing art shoes from the time of its opening in the mid ‘90s. The display window became a popular attraction with passersby who stopped to look at the different designs.
As fantasy shoes that aren’t meant to be worn, these unique art shoe pieces have been made of unconventional materials such as cardboard, jewels and flowers. The shoes are no longer on display since the couple sold the chain, and are now in storage, but Weitzman still wanted to share the one-of-a kind creations with the public.
Before she married her husband of 46 years, Weitzman said she already had a love for shoe fashions, but that love was taken to another level working with her husband.
“I never cease to be amazed at all the things that Stewart can do that are new and fresh,” she said. “He’s been doing this for a long time and he always manages to do something new.”
As someone who had experience in the art world prior to managing the boutique’s display, searching for extraordinary pieces proved a rather simple task. Her experience, coupled with her interest in art, fueled her desire to find more designs to present.
“My love of art kept me going,” she said. “The more I got into it, the more interesting it became to me.”
Finding pieces became even easier when the popularity of the shoes grew into something greater than expected.
“If I liked the feel of someone’s art, I would ask them if they could try (designing) a shoe,” Weitzman said. “Very often people came to me,” she said.
Weitzman’s approval was the only criteria for an artist to have his or her work displayed in the window, but for someone who’s seen the best, nailing the perfect design was difficult for some.
“Once the windows were up people came to me and most of them I couldn’t use. They weren’t exciting or interesting enough.”
Before she ever thought of creating a coffee table book of art shoes, Weitzman would sell the pieces in the window, something she now regrets.
“I regretted selling some of the shoes from the early windows because then we didn’t have them,” she said. “I didn’t know at the time that we would ever have any more stores. I thought it was just the one store in New York and I certainly never thought there would be a book. I just didn’t realize what the future held.”
She recalled one buyer in particular who made a rather extreme purchase.
“I remember once a man came in and bought a whole window to put in a shoe store he owned in London,” she said. “At some point I might auction them off for a charity, but right now there are people who want to borrow them for exhibits, and I just haven’t had time to deal with that, but eventually we’ll probably loan them for exhibits.”
Of the 150 shoes pictured in the book, Weitzman said she doesn’t have a favorite. Instead, she thinks of them as children.
“It’s sort of like a parent thing I have to say,” she said. “They’re all so different from each other, and I think they’re all exciting in their own way. I wanted the book to be very eclectic so we have everything from corrugated cardboard to ceramic or paper to resin, and I wanted a good verity of things.”
Weitzman’s interest goes beyond fashion and art, she’s also using her passions as a means to raise awareness. The profits from the books that were sold at Stewart Weitzman stores in the U.S. this past September benefited ovarian cancer research and in October the profits went toward breast cancer awareness.
“I’ve also been going around to different countries speaking to different organizations and hopefully that will help raise awareness for different things I think are important,” she said.
The profits from the upcoming event will be donated to the Birmingham Jewish Federation.
After so many years searching for and commissioning eye-catching and imaginative designs, the most well-known fantasy shoe remains elusive.
“I still haven’t found a glass shoe,” she said.
