FN
PLATFORM is just around the corner and the organizers have some exciting new
happenings on the show floor this year! One example is first-time exhibitor,
shoe designer Chris Francis. Unlike other brands on-site, he won’t simply
showcase next season’s styles (though he will showcase a few already made
styles); instead he plans to bring a portion of his L.A. workshop onto the show
floor and will be designing and creating shoes on-site! Known for his
avant-garde style, Chris Francis’ designs have been seen on the likes of rock
stars such as Mötley Crüe’s Mick Mars, Steve
Jones of the Sex Pistols, and former Runaways guitarist Lita Ford.
FN Platfrom had a
chance to chat with the carpenter turned shoe artist about his upcoming exhibit
and how his journey began.
Q&A with Shoe
Designer, Chris Francis:
Your creations are seen as not only a fashion
statement, but amazing works of art. How did you start designing shoes in the
first place?
I
started making shoes in 2011 after attending a party at Louis Vuitton where a
guest maker from France was hand sewing men’s shoe soles. I had always been
very fascinated by shoes and seeing that they could be made by hand really
inspired me. I attempted to make shoes the next day and had a wearable pair made
by the end of the week. I was making all of the shoes in the kitchen back then
and rapidly progressed; by the end of that year I had outgrown the kitchen and
began making shoes professionally. It was hard in the beginning, shoemaking
schools were seemingly nonexistent and internships were not offered, so I taught
myself. I met with the few old shoe makers and repairmen left in Los Angeles,
while searching for tools and machines. While none of them had time to give me
an internship, everyone was able to answer one or two questions. I ended up
learning tricks-of-the-trae from all over the world.
For
me that experience was amazing, it was so well rounded! One day I was learning a
glue recipe from Russia, maybe the next I was learning how to cut a ladies shoe
sole the way it is done in Iran. I even worked for a great maker where all day I
made and repaired shoes for Hollywood stars and at night I could sometimes see
my shoes on TV! I think that a big part of the reason that I succeeded as a
self-taught maker is that I had no inhibition or any reason to believe that I
couldn't make shoes. I also think the lack of formal training is part of the
reason that I don't adhere to one specific style of shoemaking. Instead, I make
all styles and I have always been an artist, so the shoe naturally became a
means of artistic expression for me.
Where do you get your inspiration for the next
design?
Inspiration can come from anywhere, I have a very
broad range of interests and a very open mind to developing more interests! The
last three collections have been quite architectural but at any moment I could
shift the aesthetic towards something completely opposite. I don't like to
limit myself to any one style or idea so it's not uncommon for me to make a
design one day that looks like it came from out of the Bauhaus while the next
pair I'm making a 70's style Platform boot for a customer. I like to have fun
and be creative, the shoe is no different for me than a canvas is to a painter
or a block of marble is to a sculptor. Shoes are my chosen mode of expression. Inspiration could be from a song, a moment
in life, a building – my designs are whatever I feel like making.
Do you have any favorites brands or artists that
particularly inspire you?
My
favorite living artist right now is Thomas Heatherwick. I attended his
exhibition six times at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles! I'd like to meet Tom
Ford one day, I have always found him inspiring. My favorite designers are the
ones that offer something new, something original to design that reflects who
they are, and also the ones that can pull off simplicity while still arriving at
iconic design! On one end of the spectrum my taste is very avant-garde
but
there is big part of me that loves simplicity and ultimate wearability
accompanied by sophisticated design.
Tell us a bit about what you’ll be doing at FN
PLATFORM this August 2016?
I'll
be relocating a portion of my Los Angeles workshop to FN PLATFORM along with
some of my designs. My shoes are made entirely in my workshop. Almost all of my
heels are hand-carved and most of my leather is hand-painted and hand-dyed. All
of my shoes are made from scratch, mostly by hand or on postwar and prewar 20th
Century machines. I'll be making shoes during the convention, which will be a
lot of fun!
How did you get involved with FN PLATFORM?
Why?
I
have Gene Burten to thank, he believed in my work enough to put it to the
attention of FN PLATFORM! I am very honored to be featured this year, I think
it's a rare opportunity for a maker on the custom scale. FN PLATFORM is something I have always aspired to attend but lacked
the production means to justify, so it’s an amazing opportunity for me to be
invited as a guest artist! We came up with the concept of moving the shop to Las
Vegas for the convention to celebrate the small shoe shop and the importance of
production on the small scale as well as on the large scale. I think it's
important in an age of high volume mass production to also preserve the small in-house designers and makers. So many samples
that lead to mass production are made in shops like mine. Ideas are capable of
happening on my scale that can't always happen on the large production scale.
One of a kind runway pieces are made by hand, couture pieces, museum
pieces and art pieces are all happening in garage shops and workshop studios
that are even more humble than mine. It's amazing to be able to take the garage
workshop and
move it to FN PLATFORM to greet a new audience and hopefully this will open the
door for other artists in the future!
You don’t follow the traditional wholesale model – so
how will that translate onto the FN PLATFORM show floor which typically has
brands wholesaling to retailers?
I
think it will be something new and fun! I'm not wholesale but I am absolutely
part of the market. I make shoes professionally every day and my shoes are in
the same price points as the high fashion houses which puts me in a very niche
market. I had to create my own market because as a custom maker, I couldn't
compete with mass production. It didn't make sense for me to make shoes that
looked like ones already available in the market because those designs were so
attached to the economy and the price point that mass production can offer. My
designs had to stand out in order to justify their existence and their price.
I
think that the fact that I make everything in house and by hand might translate
really well and also that I am not opposed to selling to retailers will somewhat
eliminate any idea of separation. I plan to continue attending FN PLATFORM and
in the future have a body of designs available for retailers, that production
level just hasn't been within my reach yet. The shop has never had an outside
investor, it’s been built by dedication to a vision, but there is no shortage of
designs or the ability to create them and there is no inhibition to grow! I
think relocating the shop translates in a very positive way even outside of FN
PLATFORM because it shows that by hard work and dedication, one can still start
in a kitchen and see their vision realized on a much broader scale.
Can you tell us a bit about your 6-month residency at
the Miracle Mile Craft & Folk Art Museum?
I
had a solo exhibition at the Craft & Folk Art Museum which featured over
forty pairs of my shoes, each pair being a unique design. We couldn't get any of
my shoes on loan due to them being owned by performers, so I created the entire
body of work for the CAFAM exhibition in one year! I asked the museum if we
could move the shoe shop in to the front window during the exhibition as an
installation and functioning shoe shop, and the museum was all for it! Having
the shop in the museum went over so well that the original three month duration
was extended to six months! I made shoes every day in the museum while people
watched and engaged with the craft and art of shoemaking, it was a lot of fun!
After the CAFAM exhibition I moved a portion of the shop to the Palm Springs Art
Museum where I made shoes during the Killer Heels Exhibition and exhibited
designs in conjunction with Killer Heels. Most recently I exhibited my Brutalist
collection at the Architecture + Design museum in Los Angeles and moved a
portion of the shop in for a residency, during which I made boots. I'll be
displaying select pairs from all three exhibitions at FN PLATFORM this
August!
You’ve often described your approach to making shoes
like a carpenter. What is it about that approach that elevates your pieces as
opposed to other designers who may be using
technology?
I
was a carpenter for years and even worked as a carpenter in the high fashion
house stores. My final job as a carpenter ironically was at Louis Vuitton and I
was able to keep pieces of the marble floor where I had first seen the maker
from France sewing shoes! I make shoes quite architecturally due to this
background. My pieces are very unique because they reflect my personality and my
interests and they are made by my own hands, which in my opinion makes the shoes
stand out over some technology but technology has the production advantage over
me! I find that there are designers out there turning technology into a mode of
art and expression that is in no fundamental way different than my way of using
my hands and machines as tools to aid my expression. Art and design have no
boundaries and there are no right or wrong ways to arrive at creative expression
therefore I respect and admire technology, and value it as a valid medium in
which to create beautiful art in the 21st century. I don't have access to
technology yet, but when I do I will use it to its full artistic potential and I
believe that mass production can be a beautiful art form when done with artistic
intention! I am modern, my mind and imagination are both modern, it is only my
machines that are old!
For additional information on the upcoming show and
Chris Francis’ exhibit, please visit www.fnplatform.com.
Thank you for taking the time to read this footwear blog post. We hope that you have found this news to be informative.
