Brian Atwood
Brian Atwood created his eponymous shoe label in 2001, and has since developed a devoted, cult like following for his brazenly sexy footwear. The most elaborate skins, the longest fringe, the most glittering jewels go into his fantasy footwear, which brilliantly illustrates that over the top truly begins at the bottom.
The designer’s love affair with fashion began at an early age, growing up in a suburb outside of Chicago where he spent hours as a boy gazing at his mother’s impeccable wardrobe. That early aesthetic flair was developed at Southern Illinois University where he studied art and architecture, and eventually led him to New York where he studied clothing design at FIT. Right after graduating, he hopped on a plane and began a fruitful modeling career on the catwalks of Europe, but all the while, he was filling the margins of his notebooks with doodles of four inch stilettos- a clear indication of his career to come.
In 1996, Atwood became the first American to be hired by Gianni Versace in Milan. Starting with designing the company’s Versus line, he was soon promoted to chief designer for women’s accessories, where he mastered the intricacies of shoe design and high quality production and succeeded in creating an incredible brand identity for the accessories division.
In 2001, Atwood finally took the plunge and created his own label dedicated to stop and stare, drop-dead-gorgeous shoes made from the best manufacture in Italy. Atwood, clearly an ally for all females, is singularly devoted to making women’s bottom halves look long, lean and fabulously sexy-and he does it all without killing their feet.