The Pinoy link to Alexander McQueen

Those drop-dead-gorgeous spike or stiletto heels that I wore during my rock-’n’-roll days have long been re-tired.  That’s why I almost choked when I saw stilettos now measuring five to seven inches high.  How could any girl maintain her equilibrium on those stilts?         

“Ma’am,” the shoe manager chuckled.  “You’d be surprised at how young ladies can sway and dance a seductive Argentinean tango in them.  They’d blow your mind away.”  

“Hmm,” I replied.  “What happens to their ankles and limbs, blown to bits, too?”        

Armadillo of me: A glittery ensemble by Alexander McQueen highlights his 12-inch-high Armadillo shoes.

Enter Edwin and Frances Hernandez of Marykel Co., exporter and manufacturer of high-quality giftware and home decor. They just arrived from New York after gracing the opening of the Alexander McQueen “Savant Beaut (Savage Beauty)” exhibit at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, or the Met, for short.          

The exhibition featured Lee (his nickname) McQueen’s iconic and radical designs that made him one of the most enigmatic and prolific artists in high fashion.  His impact was so phenomenal that his design label has thrived beyond the grave, so to speak, regardless of his shocking death in London in February 2010.  Proof was the recent celebrated wedding of British heir Prince William to his bride Kate, who wore an Alexander McQueen wedding gown.  Anna Wintour, the British-born editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine USA, wrote, “He (McQueen) brought a uniquely British sense of daring and aesthetic fearlessness to the global stage of fashion.”

True to the no-bounds, supersonic artistic drive of McQueen, he designed a pair of shoes called Armadillo imitating the armored shell of the mammal.  The shoes measure — gasp — 12 inches high.  Imagine slipping into a pair of shoes that would lift you as high as one measuring ruler?  It was designed to draw attention to the leg and calf but is definitely a chiropractor’s dream device. This armadillo was not short of users.  In fact, it became a daring fashion statement, brimming with hubris: “I dare you to wear them. Ha!”        

Marykel’s Edwin and Frances Hernandez with children Mary and Michael

And who took up the challenge?  Lady Gaga.  She wore a pair in her Bad Romance music video and one blogger called them “lobster-claw” shoes.  I clicked on the video and once again gasped at Lady Gaga strutting, clad in a head-to-toe gold outfit, designed by McQueen, chanting “Walk, walk, fashion, baby, work it, move that bitch crazy.”

It was said that Alexander McQueen lived in his own fantastical orbit that made for some spectacular shoes.  The cost of owning a pair of Armadillos is reportedly US$10,000 (imagine, exclusive of the insurance for daring to wear a pair and risk breaking your ankles).           

Edwin said, “There was a huge turnout for McQueen’s Savant Beaut at the Met but the biggest surprise for us was to be told that the miniature shoes that we made were snatched up in a veritable frenzy within three days of the exhibition; 2,000 pieces sold like hotcakes.”         

Frances said, “When Michael Nash, the Met’s product development manager, with Rita Soghanyemezian, senior productions specialist of 3-D reproductions, asked us to make a prototype of the Armadillo, Edwin suggested that I make three pieces:  two in plain color and the other one with the armored shell pattern.  We sent the pieces by express air to the Met and the Met immediately posted them to Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen in London.  Sarah Burton chose the armadillo pattern and that’s the model that we worked on … frantically.  We delivered the shoes by the skin of our teeth, right before the opening of Savant Beaut.”

Daphne Guinness, heiress of the Guinness Family, fashion icon, journalist and collector of haute couture, wears her Armadillos at the launch of Nars Cosmetics’ new collection.

Edwin and Frances did not imagine the wild response to the miniature version.  With inventory wiped clean, they were compelled to cut their trip short and return to Manila to rush 10,000 pieces more.  Each batch had to be sent by express cargo, every day, in order to meet the high demand for the miniature Armadillo.          

Who would have the guts or the wherewithal to own the original Alexander McQueen’s Armadillo when we could own a four-inch scale model that could be hung as an ornament on a Christmas tree, embellish a table setting or simply give away as a unique accessory?  It’s safe, won’t break your bones and is proudly made by Pinoys in the Philippines.         

It may not be the right thing to say but I’ll say it anyway: “Break a leg,” Edwin and Frances.  Mabuhay!