Up until recently, the Harajuku Lovers shoe line has been filled with casual sneakers and slip-on flats. Not so this season.
Harajuku Lovers has apparently taken a page from Betsey Johnson and Beverly Feldman and gone from cute and casual to feminine and fabulous.
Perhaps, with LAMB shoes following the trend of increased prices that we have seen in more established luxury brands (Last spring, LAMB shoes were around $400, this spring some styles were near the $700 mark), Gwen’s Harajuku Lovers brand is expanding to include club-worthy shoe styles at college-friendly prices? After all, it makes sense to establish a recession-resistant middle ground when the pricing on your flagship brand starts outrunning the budgets of your primary customer base.
Here's one style that caught my eye:
Roberto Cavalli L70038 $1494 $1072.80 at Zappos.com
I find these to be an interesting and fresh alternative to the many recent glittered, sequined, pailletted, and otherwise bedazzled shoe options being offered in nearly every price range. They also happen to make me smile because they bring immediately to mind one of my favorite, illustrated, children’s books, “The Rainbow Fish
These Cavalli peep-toes are just as sparkly as the rainbow fish is at the beginning of the story.
Though, I must admit that I actually love the illustrations as much or more than story text; a morality tale centered around the concepts of vanity, sharing, friendship, and inner beauty. Over the course of the story, the rainbow fish eventually passes out most of his scales to those around him - sharing his beauty and gaining friends as he learns humility and the ability to share. There is also a great, tactile, quality to the artwork; foil scales are inset into the watercolor illustrations - adding sparkle and collage interest to each page.
Looking at these shoes, I feel kind of like the rainbow fish at the beginning of the story. They are soooo pretty; you would feel spectacular any time you tried them on. I suppose that even as a grown-up, it’s hard to share certain things that make us feel fabulous and personal all at the same time.
I certainly wouldn’t want to share these if they were a part of my closet. I’m afraid the closest I come to the tale’s selflessness (in regard to shoes) is by periodically donating any non-worn shoes in my closet.
How about you?
