Matea Gluscevic for Nicol & Ford at Australian Fashion Week 2023.
Photos: J Caswell / @lexilaphorphoto / @em.peachy / @jazminteresa / Louise Wedel / Morgan Harper
Jewellery + Headwear: @phoebehyles
Hardware: @tobiassangkuhl
Stylist: @miguelurbinatan
Production + Direction: @dino__dimitriadis
Hair: @johnpulitano @originalmineral @zala_hair_extensions
Makeup: @pinkiiieee @makeupforever @embellishbyrowi
Nails: @sopretty.au
Movement Direction: @fetu.taku.angels
Brass Casting: @kobamundii
]]>She expressed she wanted a chunky wooden platform clog with my signature Not Paper leather texture as the upper. After a bit of discussion re whether it would have a closed toe vs open toe and what shade the pine would be stained - this was the design we settled on.
From there I got started on the design and drawings for the platforms. While I often do my own woodwork and platforms, in this case I got them cut by Bruce, as my bandsaw doesn't have quite high enough of an opening to be able to cut these chunky ones!
Once I got the platforms it was a matter of sanding them down, attaching the rubber grip to the forepart and heel, and lightly staining and sealing the pine.
Then I crafted the insole and upper and with a bit of further discussion with Bridget, we decided to attach the upper with some domed golden studs for a classic clog look!
Done!
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Nicol & Ford's designers, Timothy Nicol-Ford and Katie-Louise Ford put forth a strong vision for the debut runway collection, "La Pouffe" ~
"Nicol & Ford La Pouffe Collection 2022 explores the life of French-born Mexican multimillionaire Carlos de Beistegui (1895-1970). A key patron of the surrealist movement, lavish party-thrower and owner of extravagant homes across the globe, de Beistegui was publicly a life-long bachelor causing much social speculation as to his sexuality.
Nicol & Ford’s collection specifically examines the 136 Champs Elysees, Paris, where de Beistegui commissioned the now famous father of modernist architecture Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, known as Le Corbusier, to create a clean white cube penthouse above historic Parisian architecture. Photographed by Le Corbusier as an empty, pristine space typifying the ideals of modernist architecture, upon handover Carlos de Beistegui and his trusted advisor, the Cuban interior designer Emilio Terry lavishly furnished blank white rooms with overwrought and overstuffed French Rococo antique furniture.
Ultimately creating a rift between architect and patron, de Beistegui’s extravagant additions to the penthouse exemplify the ability of queer aesthetics to interrupt the cold, clinical, modernist vision.
Focussed on re-writing history via a contemporary fashion lens, each Nicol & Ford collection reverses queer erasure, unearthing figures from the past to celebrate their creative ingenuity and leadership."
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With this vision and brief front and centre, and a huge box of vintage upholstery fabric and trims that I recieved - I set out on a mega making mission. From time of project confirmation I had exactly TWO WEEKS to have 20 pairs of shoes ready, 16 of those needing to be made from scratch! I'm not sure how it is that I thought this would be possible, but I decided it was, and I made it happen!
We decided on some overall silhouettes that the designers wanted ie pointed toes and platforms, and confirmed the exact sizes required for the wonderfully diverse range of models they had cast.
Once I started, I decided that the best approach give the time frame, would be to simply get start with the basics and get every style underway asap, and then add details and develop as time would permit. I also wanted to ensure that quality was not affected, despite the time constraints, so all the soles were still full leather and everything was fully lined! It would have been great to have more time to experiment and develop the styles a bit more, but given the constraints I think it turned out to be a great collection!
My lovely partner Glenn helped out for half a day on the bandsaw for the two section platforms, Glenn's mum Di helped out for an evening unpicking bindings (and of course letting me use her garage as a temporary studio space!), and the lovely Bruce Miller helped get the wooden platforms cut super fast - ready for me to sand down and polish etc.
I've posted some of the details below - enjoy!
The very first part I got to was the insoles for some I used a cellulose board combination and for others I used a vegetable tanned leather - the leather insoles were mostly for the insoles I'd be sewing directly onto.
Next up was covering and finishing those insoles - using the beautiful fabrics supplied by Nicol & Ford.
Some uppers all sewn up and ready to be lasted! That SILK!!! The ruffling turned out to be quite a quick way to get a relatively bold textured finish without having to focus on precision.
This was one fo the most interesting parts of the project - the designers sent a reference image of some vintage platforms that used a door knob as as heel, so I set out to recreate something similar but with a bit more of a Done by Matea / Nicol & Ford vibe. I was provided with these vintage doorknobs, but I did need to resolve two things 1. how to lock the knobs from turning while being stood on and 2. how to increase the surface area of the touch point. I ended up pouring resin into the knob mechanism and using a resin putty to add a little heel topper for extra surface area - that I spray painted gold later on.
The platform itself was crafted by master heel maker Bruce Miller here in Melbourne, from technical designs/drawings I supplied. Once I recieved them, I still needed to finish them (as the surfaces were all very rough), drill holes through them for the rope straps, and apply a wood stain and several layers of sealer. And to attach the knob heels of course, and rubber to the forepart for grip.
Just a lil shot of the staining process.
For many of the styles I opted for a lace-up closure, as this would ensure a broader range of fits was possible, given I didn't have exact measurements of all the models feet.
All the styles on the work-in-progress shelf, on their way to being finished!
Insole attaching and lining straps.
Many styles had uppers that were quite delicate, so I chose to layer them over more structured linings as you can see here. The mesh (seen in the top left of the image) was later added on top of this.
Also had a BALL covering these cute little bun heels with the vintage fabrics!
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]]>A few months ago I started thinking about a plywood hinge shoe, and last week the idea just wouldn't leave me alone! So after a few days of non-stop thinking about this concept - I had to get into the studio and figure it out.
The first thing I did, was cutting the insole sections on my bandsaw and then picking out a heel to use - I used a pair of furniture legs I had lying around, as I didn't want to spend too much time focusing on the heel.
Then I got some little brass dolls house hinges and attached them along the insole. After that I got a little frustrated as I hadn't really anticipated designing the rest of the shoe, and honestly didn't want to haha, I was happy seeing the hinged plywood insole come to life and that was enough for me!
BUTTTT I figured I should use the opportunity to test out a few other ideas that you can see in the images of the finished product: drilled holes through the insole, layered angular forepart platform, rope tie straps and some EVA foam straps.
All in all I rate them a 5/10, they were definitely a rush job, and they absolutely could be way more resolved, but I'm glad I tested a few ideas out, and I have to remember not everything in shoemaking needs to be a perfect finished product!
Feel free to leave any comments or questions below! I'll do my best to answer :)
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The customer got in touch wanting some dramatic golden heels for an upcoming wedding. The requirements were that they were a custom fit to accomodate a wider foot, that they have a rhinestone buckle, secure ankle strap, chunky heel, and were golden in some way.
I was too busy to document the whole process so I'll just go through a few of the details of this custom pair.
First up was the fabric choice. The customer wanted something golden so I initially ordered this beautiful golden raw dupion silk with a lavender shadow. Once it arrived it was lovely, but not quite as metallic or shiny as we'd hoped. I stopped past an old classic, Spotlight, in a last ditch effort to find something and luckily they had a lovely textured golden lame. After consulting with the customer we decided to use both fabrics, as they had the same golden undertone.
A customer contacted me wanting something with the detailed paneling of a sneaker, but with a finer leather sole that would be more reminiscent of a dress boot. I'd never done anything like this before, but it sounded interesting and I was definitely up for the challenge.
I'll be sharing a few notable steps of the process with you here - but definitely not all the steps - we'd be here all day!
Lets get into it!
Introducing the I'm a Pea Not a Pearl Heels, Sunset Heels and some Everyday Basics, with appearances by some classics.
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This range centres around sustainable materials - biodegradable veg tan leather, kangaroo leather, Australian FSC Certified Pine, and Recycled Bottle Satins - as well as bold textures and colours!
PHOTOGRAPHY: CHASING CHI
MODEL: ALEXANDRA BELLAS
VIDEO: SAAD FILMS
MUSIC: FANFICKK
]]>Inspired by a bunch of mysterious things within me as well as my experiences camping in outback Australia as a child, being a teen in the 90s obsessed with surf brands, my Croatian background and friendship.
Featuring a range of handmade items made from sustainable materials such as 100% recycled cotton, biodegradable veg tan kangaroo leather and 70% bio content resin. These items have been created to embody a sense of strong individuality, freedom and connection to the environment.
PHOTOGRAPHY: MORGAN SETTE
MODELS: LEXA J + CORDELIA HOPTROFF
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The Puffy Heels were the most exciting addition here - being made almost completely from sustainable materials. Featuring a hand-sculpted Australian Pine heel, vegetable tanned leather sole, salvaged leather lining, pure silk upper and filled with natural eucalyptus fibre.
Digitally printed fabric and woven textiles also featured here, with the Slides and cushion cover using a digitally printed version of my artwork for the cotton canvas upper.
Vegetable tanned leather was further explored through the native flower earrings - the pink and yellow eucalypts and the white flannel flower are all made from vegetable tanned kangaroo leather.
All works hand crafted by me with the exclusion of the throw.
PHOTOGRAPHY: MORGAN SETTE
MODELS: ANNABELLE TUKTA + MICHAEL DAL SANTO
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This range explored the various ways of working with vegetable tanned leather, with all the footwear being made from vegetable tanned kangaroo leather, and all custom dyed and finished. The saucers were a further exploration into historical treatments, in this case the boiling of leather to create a contracted and hardened material.
PHOTOGRAPHY: MORGAN SETTE
MODELS: ADELAIDE XERRI + VETEA VETIVER
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