With New York Fashion Week’s fall ’22 season wrapped, it’s time to take a closer look at all of the details, accessories, accoutrements and — mostly importantly — the footwear that stuck out at the runway shows, presentations, digital look books and fashion films that populated the week.
There’s a definitive party vibe in the air, a continuation of fashion’s “revenge dressing” plan for spring ’22. With all of the mini dresses, sequins, sparkles, cutouts and other look-at-me details, a festive heel is certainly on deck for next fall and winter. Classical strappy sandals and delicate sling backs came along with aforementioned garments, and Manolo Blahnik’s iconic BB pumps even made a cameo appearance on the runway at LaQuan Smith (on the heels of Julia Fox, no less).
Here, a closer look at the best shoes of New York Fashion Week’s fall ’22 season.
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Peter Do
The Brooklyn-based designer’s cult following has exploded since his runway debut last season for spring ’22, and his fall ’22 collection lived up to the hype. Show goers swooned over the genderless jackets and shirts, clever tailoring and sumptuous oversized bags. But Do and team have also quickly built up a footwear following, with big retailers like Nordstrom and Bergdorf Goodman having scooped up his boots and heels for spring. The brand’s signature black leather platform boot — which he repeated again for fall — has an angular sole outlining a softer, rounded actual toe, plus a gigantic platform base and a slick patent leather upper. It’s quickly becoming as recognizable a silhouette to the brand as Rick Owens’s platform is to his.
Jonathan Simkhai
There were plenty of party looks this season, but no one did a glitzy strappy sandal like Simkhai, specifically with a hand-knotted satin sandal with crystal rope detailing. “I always love to focus on hand work and craftsmanship, and I really wanted to inject some of those details into the shoes, like we did with the hand knotting,” Simkhai told FN at his presentation. “With footwear we are seeing such an excitement. Even throughout Covid, we were hearing from retailers that embellished shoes were continuing to be worn, even through the thick of it. So I think there’s an element of joy when putting on a great shoe.” The designer had originally launched his footwear line for fall ’20 but pulled back during the pandemic, relaunching it with his spring ’22 collection. The pre-spring collection is now available as an exclusive through Saks Fifth Avenue.
Shayne Oliver
The Hood By Air designer’s comeback with the newly formed Anonymous Club’s “Collective” show at The Shed was a highly anticipated moment for New York Fashion Week. The actual show (presented on the second night of the designer’s three-part fashion-meets-music-meet-art-performance extravaganza of many different names) may have proved difficult when it came to seeing the actual fashion. But post-event photos show that Oliver’s penchant for creative, out-of-the-box footwear is still alive, especially in a pair of white stiletto boots with elongated pointy toes, a welcome point of view in New York’s commercial-leaning lineup of shoes.
Area
Beckett Fogg and Piotrek Pansczczyk also returned to NYFW, in their own new downtown space for a presentation that combined their couture work with a mix of ready-to-wear elements. For anyone whose eyes have been starved for fashion’s sparkle and showmanship amidst the pandemic’s onslaught of sweatpants, Area was a complete feast, with the brand’s signature crystal work joined by new techniques, such as brass metal work, feather accents and new experimental silhouettes. In place of their buzzy (and oft-copied) fringe heels, Area introduced a new clog covered entirely in crystals.
Markarian x Maria Luca
Fans of Markarian appreciate the brand’s feminine touches, with its brocades and florals and vintage sensibilities. This season, designer Ali O’Neill partnered with Italian footwear brand Maria Luca to bring that approach all the way down to the shoes. O’Neill collaborated with designer Carlotta Luca on a series of boots, sandals and sling backs that incorporated some of the season’s brocades and glitzy silhouettes. “I love that her line is inspired by her grandmother. My grandmother has played such a big part in my own life and my design background,” O’Neill told FN backstage after the show. “And I love her classic retro sensibility, too.” A pair of black satin sling backs with a golden orb punctuating the heel was a standout, but something tells us that a pair of knee boots in a brocade matching a ruffled gown will resonate with fall’s more-is-more party vibe.
Altuzarra
The black leather platform boot is likely to become one of fall ’22’s must-have shoes, and Joseph Altuzarra had his own stellar option. While the designer’s ready-to-wear was full of embellishment, with metal-accented belts clinging to sumptuous knitwear and gigantic paillettes adorning everything from evening gowns to the sleeves of sweaters and coats, footwear stayed simple. Aside from a strong platform sandal and black leather wrap sandal accessorized with a matching black leather sock, footwear was focused on the boot, which had a sizable platform but whose softly rounded shape and stacked heel translates to a multi-functioning shoe for day and night.
Sergio Hudson x Malone Souliers
For a safari and ’90s retro-themed spring ’22 show, the L.A. designer partnered with Mary Alice Malone on a series of colorful lace-up platform sandals that were an exact match to the suits and gowns that models whirled and twirled in on the catwalk. “The color inspiration really came from the Ndebele tribe in Africa,” Hudson told FN backstage, ahead of his Sunday night show. “They wear all these great pastel colors and each color means something for them. So the color inspiration came from that, and then that’s where the safari idea came from and I thought what about building a bridge between these two worlds that I love both.”
Proenza Schouler
Other designers have explored the idea of shoes molded exactly to the foot, all the way to the toes (hello, Balenciaga), but Proenza’s take suggests that it’s not a novelty but instead a new category of ballerina flat for this year. The brand’s shoe (which came in both flats and heels) was also a mix of high (Schiaparelli toe boots or the Balenciaga Vibram) meets low (Vibram five fingers or a water sock).
Nalebe
Despite a glut of party dresses this season, there weren’t as many party shoes to go around at NYFW. Enter Nalebe designer Amina Means, whose line has always focused on a colorful heel. For fall ’22, Means leaned into both color and festivity, with crystal toe accents, vibrant satins, punchy PVCs and a series of heels embedded with oversized, gem-shaped crystals. An orange PVC mule with a bow outlined in crystals is likely to be a hit as Y2K style influences the party season next fall.
Collina Strada x Vans
Collina Strada’s spoof on MTV’s aughts hit “The Hills” was undoubtedly a hit moment for NYFW, injecting some much-needed humor into a week that put forth a lot of party looks but didn’t have many parties. The designer brought her mix of eclectic shapes and colors all the way down to the shoes with a Vans collaboration that showed a new take on the checkerboard and a few other silhouettes executed only as Strada could do.
