pumps

As we continue to preview Spring/Summer 2012 collections, we’ll pick and choose what we believe you will love as much as we do! Enjoy!

tuleste market

California Natives Satu and Celeste Greenberg grew up traveling and compiling thrift store finds to create novel, modern jewelry; hence their own line dubbed tuleste market. With their love of taking something from old to new again, they have created pieces “meant to be linked together, layered, and worn numerous ways.” Versatile handbags (LOVE the Treena wristlets in red and grey above for $275) and  footwear (diamond and draped heel shapes) followed suit in the second and third seasons respectively. Female super heroes inspired this SS12 collection, but I say power to these designers in their futuristic vision with its classic vintage feel.

Azature

Unique fine jewelry and black diamond specialists, Azature, take a sophisticated approach to jewelry with black pearls, platinum metal, and blue topaz in the SS12 Adamande Collection ($5,000 and up). After great success, designer Azature launched a 2011 diffusion line AZ by Azature (already worn by Rihanna), which uses semi-precious metals and stones and pure foils ($100-$500). Nothing short of exciting, the designer himself told me, “The sky is the limit.”

milk & honey

Design your own shoes! That’s the ingenious premise behind milk&honey; choose the toe, strap, heel height, color and material (they even do vegan shoes) to customize your own perfect shoe. Sounds like every girl’s dream, right?! Peeking at the swatches, I could already envision about ten pairs of shoes as I mentally tossed around silhouettes and color combos. The shoes take about 6-8 weeks, but the DIY feature is worth the wait.

United Nude

United Nude launched in 2003 with the “Mobius” shoe, but since then has played around with the intersection between sculptural design, fashion, and technology to establish its brand in over 40 countries worldwide. Architectural and artistic, yet elegant and cutting edge, the United Nude shoes for spring boast crazy bright laces, abstract clog-heels and more! I haven’t stopped thinking about the Eamz pump with it’s golden heel parallel to the floor or the Abstract Rome Wedges, ideal for any spring ensemble.

Hyden Yoo

For SS12, light fabrics helped play up the duality between youth and maturity, while longer maxi skirts and dresses kept the edgy downtown vibe of Hyden Yoo’s collection. Inspired by Romantic Neocolonialism, Yoo linked notions of taboo and subtle eroticism to explore nostalgic beauty. Cropped capes played with the idea of 1920’s societal angst, but for me, the true beauty revolved around the delicate maxis (pictured above).

Mavi

The fashion philosophy behind Mavi is simple: to build a brand around perfect fitting jeans that convey an exotic feel in terms of fashion and detail. Mavi means “blue” in Turkish, and Mavi was the first Turkish brand to go global. Mavi Denim, retailing at around $98 and Mavi Gold Premium Denim, retailing at around $138, continue to provide fashion-forward denim, both traditional and the more standout, the colored collection, for an eccentric global clientele.

-Alana Quagliariello

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