Alexandra Neel
A onetime dancer with the Paris Opera, Alexandra Neel worked for Celine, Balenciaga and Nina Ricci before launching her own collection in the Spring 2001. Neel showed up on the international radar with her very first collection- particularly a seductive, somewhat kinky pump with corset lacing up the heel.
The glamorous mood of the moment is very apparent in Neel’s Fall collection, which she describes as inspired by “women’s curves, low-cut bodices, and suggestive, see-through underwear.”
“I like the women who wear my shoes to be strong-minded, very feminine and very attractive, like the character of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct,” says the designer.
Rather than being influenced by one designer, Neel cites her fellow dancers as a constant inspiration. “They bring out the emotions and feelings of their public while working in silence to try to attain perfection,” she says. And all in toe shoes no less.