The pyramidal heel of the “Icon” sandal is joined by the new circle heel, which makes next summer 2018 even more elegant and original. It’s a perfect 7 cm high semicircle, inspired by the modernist shapes and volumes of the Bauhaus movement. Finished in chrome shades like the body of a car or in lacquered black and white for a basic but sophisticated effect.

The next collection by Alain Tondowski – a brand launched in 1997 and resumed in 2014, after a few years break – doesn’t stop there, but leaves space also for metal, leather, weaves and feathers, mixing different types of “savoir-faire” and noble materials, translated by an elaborate processing that integrates touches of vinyl, metal rings, weaves of PVC and raffia.

There is also a reference to Jaques Tati’s clichés of the 1950s with easy-to-wear mules covered by woven leather with a checkerboard pattern; wild neo-couture feathers, leather weaves and metal eyelets.

Elements that recall the 1960s and express themselves through new materials, with techniques elaborated by iconic couturiers of the time, like Paco Rabanne and Pierre Cardin, but reinterpreted with a “footwear” spirit.

There’s also an homage to the Japanese designer Tokio Kumagai, who inspired every piece conceived by the designer, who creates chromed and lacquered heels in the pale colours of this season.