ICONS

For many years I worked in a lovely little shoe store called Solemates. Season after season, I would watch countless numbers of shoes come in and go out. But nothing truly caught my eye until a new line we had picked up finally made its way on to our shelves. The company was called Icon. It was new, it was fresh, it was... Copied?!
ICON is a California-based company that was formed in 2001 with the "sole" purpose of showcasing art on shoes, then later handbags, wallets, and other accessories. They incorporate images from all walks of art: Renaissance masters to early modernists to contemporary artists. The artists’ images are bonded to the leather of the shoes’ uppers, which makes for some very accurate reproductions of the original images.

 

Although the shoes themselves are not exactly what I would call My style, I fell in love with their originality. I have always had a love for the arts (and shoes), so naturally I instantly fell in love with the idea that you can so elegantly wear art and history on your feet, and share that art and beauty with the rest of the world by simply stepping into your shoes and out of your house.