It’s
been a footwear smack down 2 years in the making…’The Despotic Queen V Rupert
Sanderson’. When I finally lured Sanderson into the ring I knocked him out with Propofol and gave him an A grade inter galactic probing – good humoured,
Sanderson bit down and took one for Queen and country.
During
the gestation of this interview Sanderson has birthed a new baby, signed off
his second collaboration for Karl Lagerfeld and kept Imelda’s first discovery,
Liam Fahy, chained to the coffee machine.
When
we finally met Sanderson surprised me with a large box, “What is this?” (What?
I’m the Despotic Queen…have I not earned the right to expect gifts).
“It’s
a present” he teased “I bought them at an auction last year and thought they’d
be perfect for you”. I wondered if perhaps now he had an heir and a spare if
this wasn’t one of those ‘back-up babies’ that are all the rage with rich white
people. His excitement bubbling
over, Rupert blurted, “They’re a pair of Sly Stone platforms”.
“Oh”
I replied, my face contorting into an awkward grimace, I coughed up a nervous
chuckle. “You don’t like them?” he asked, his voice laced with disappointment.
Making
a quick recovery I said “No-no.”, tapping the hollow 12-inch platform with my
nails “They’ll be perfect for smuggling contraband through Heathrow”. “How
wonderful, but you really shouldn’t have” I lied “shall we get started?”
When
I read that Sanderson was born in Jimmy Choo's hometown of Penang, Malaysia I
wondered if a career as a footwear designer was some how pre destined.
“Rupert,
what was your first memory of footwear?” “Probably my dad’s army
boots!” he replied. I wasn’t surprised - his Wiki page explains he is the son
of a British Army Officer and lived a “typically
peripatetic life of an army child”
Like
many of his contemporaries, Sanderson has had an unorthodox trajectory into the
luxury footwear industry. After studying at Royal
Holloway and Bedford New College, London University, he launched into a potentially
lucrative career in the advertising industry. “Why give all that up?" I asked,
“I came to the realization at a certain point, I’d taken the wrong fork in my life
path” adding “and the love of a good shoe”.
Like Choo, Sanderson studied at Cordwainers, a college renowned for
producing some of the finest footwear designers of the 21st century.
Imelda is fascinated by Cordwainers “what’s in the water?” I asked. Laughing,
he replied it wasn’t so much the water as “it is the only college in the
country that offers this type of course.” “But look at the Alumni, Choo,
Kirkwood, Kafini, you” “Yes” he replied “ It attracts the best” pausing “but it
attracts the worst. Because it attracts them ALL”
During his two-year course, Sanderson would spend his summer break channeling
the Easy Rider. He traveled through Italy working with, and learning from, as
many master artisans as possible. After graduating, Sanderson took up a residence
with the venerable Italian brand Sergio Rossi. From there he then went on to
Bruno Magli. But the siren’s call was not to be ignored and in 2001 Sanderson
launched his eponymous brand.
Sanderson has been called ‘bold’ and ‘revolutionary’ for launching his brand
at a time when the consumer and the media were resistant in embracing independent
designers.
I asked Sanderson how he established his brand identity “I am drawn to
the minimalist aesthetic, so many of my shoes are deceptively simple - as
with minimalist architecture it’s all about proportions, volume, silhouette and
importantly, material. I thought if I stick to that, I could carve out an
identity”.
Imelda suspects Sanderson’s ‘minimalist aesthetic’ is masking an ugly
secret…Rupert Sanderson is a hoarder. My proof, his A/W 09 press release.
‘20 years ago, whilst walking along a deserted
beach in Sri Lanka, Rupert Sanderson picked up an interestingly shaped stone.
The asymmetrical shape of the stone inspired Rupert Sanderson to create a pebble story within his collection.
This pebble has been
strategically placed on a number of simple shoes from platform peep toes, to
closed toe flats, where the symmetrical lines of the shoe are contrasted with
the misshapen pebble.’
“A
pebble? Seriously. Rupert who keeps a pebble for 20 years?” “Weirdly” he
replied “it’s just been lying around on various desks I’ve had for years. Still
not convinced, I wondered if I raided his abode would I find a graveyard of
empty marmite jars or worse? Looking me in the eye, he said, “It’s proof,
inspiration comes from the most obvious and common place things”.
Picking
up Titan (A/W 09/10), a plum satin peep toe bootie, I studied the crystals embedded into the
star shaped platform. Looking around his London showroom, it was obvious to Imelda
why Sanderson’s Empire includes two stores in the heart
of London and the brand is stocked in over 200 luxury boutiques and department
stores worldwide. I was suddenly overcome by a terrifying tightening of the chest.
Pushing
on, I asked about the Sanderson woman. “I am duty bound to say my
wife and I wouldn’t be far wrong” he replied. Since the Despotic Queen’s bed is
already full and I’m on the verge of being labeled the (rusty) town bike, Imelda
was relived to discover Sanderson was married. Continuing, he described his
client as “Super smart, works in the arts and knows her own mind and VERY
beautiful”.
Unable
to shake that farklempt feeling I started sweating like Whitney Houston walking through
customs. Then I realized ‘sweet baby Jesus!...Satan’s about to call me home’.
Oblivious
to my condition, Sanderson said, “Imelda, I think you of people will appreciate
this shoe”. Handing me a gold leopard print sandal, my throat constricted. “Ahhh”
I gurgled “ahhh mah salts. Where are MAH SMELLING SALTS?” I screamed.
Leaping
off the naughty seat (more on that later) Yum Yum reached into my Birkin and retrieved
my smelling salts, but it was too late.
Continued tomorrow.....
