The collaborative shoe collection by local footwear label Tom Gunn and Australian designer Gary Bigeni will soon be sold at selected retailers, following its debut at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW).
The exclusive three-piece capsule collection, “Tom Gunn for Gary Bigeni”, formed part of Bigeni's solo spring/summer 11/12 collection show at RAFW this month and will be available for purchase at Tom Gunn and Gary Bigeni stockists from September this year.
The exclusive design – a 13cm, minimalistic, strappy heel crafted from Italian nappa leather – will retail for $440 and is available in three colourways, featuring Bigeni's spring/summer colour palette of dirty grey, burnt orange, amber brown, light brown, light blue and intense blue.
Tom Gunn co-designer Gabrielle Thompson said the collaboration with Bigeni was a conducive partnership which worked well due to a shared understanding of design philosophies and aesthetics.
“Tom Gunn is all about juxtaposition, pairing unusual leathers, textures and colours in a way that somehow works, and we wanted to work with someone who pushes the boundaries in a similar fashion,” she said.
“We first met with Gary in mid-January and discussed ideas, colours, etc, and we were really inspired from that meeting and started sketching immediately. We came up with three different styles and from those, Gary chose his favourite, which coincidentally was our favourite too.”
She said she is hopeful the collection will also create international business for both labels. “We would love to attract some overseas stockists as well and RAFW is the perfect platform for that sort of opportunity.”
Daniela Aroche