Hip Luxury-Givenchy Spring2009

Riccardo Tisci, designer for Givenchy, caused mob scenes backstage in Paris. The push-and-shove to congratulate him after his show almost brought down a dividing wall—and to be honest, there's not much of that old-school mania around these days. What triggered it was a collection coined "Western Bondage." There is a thread of hard-core hip in Paris that is picking up that western theme and turning it in a glam-slam direction, and Givenchy brought it to the forefront with his Spring 2009 collection.

I absolutely love the way he made something western look sexy. Studs and animal hide look fabulous on his open toe, strappy heel. And the western theme detail in metallic silver and gold is the ultimate in western chic. The bondage theme is evident in the metal hardware on the front of the shoe. It is as if the foot is locked in the shoe. To complete this fantastic design, Tisci put the zipper on the heel of the shoe, yet another sexy eye catcher for these shoes.