When I f
irst joined Footwear Plus in 2015, the first thing that struck me about the shoe industry was the pace. I was coming from the interior design world, where I’d log 10,000 steps at the tabletop market to see the same damask pattern as last season, updated in a new colorway. I’d interview furniture makers whose whole collection was three pieces a year. Sure, I’d cover trends (all hail Pantone’s color of the year), but they were macro ideas, like shapes and materials, not necessarily one “it” item.
Cut to the world of shoes, where one second you’re in, and the next, you’re looking like a pair of slouchy suede boots from 2013 (just kidding, they’re back in again). Trade shows yield a dozen or more new trends each season, and I quickly developed a keen eye for silhouettes, colors, and materials and added words like upper, shaft, and vamp into my vocabulary.
If you’ve been here a while, you might remember me from those days, or perhaps from my time contributing to fashion editorials in the years since. In recent years, I’ve continued to cover fashion along with interior design and weddings. I’m an avid Instagrammer and social media manager, so it’s my job to stay on top of the always-changing trends on social. When the opportunity to pen digital articles for Unlaced, a weekly footwear forum, arose, I was immediately on board.
To be clear, Unlaced is not another newsletter. It is intended to help you detangle the ever-evolving web of fashion, social media, and commerce. It will act as a digital enhancement to our monthly print issue, headed by Greg Dutter. There’s no limit to what we can cover, so email me with your thoughts and I look forward to talking shoes (and beyond) with you. —Ann Loynd Burton
