Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/175899
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE MARSLAND/WIREIMAGE (KIRKWOOD); JEFF GREEN PHOTOGRAPHY (STORE); FRED DUVAL/FLIMMAGIC (PARKER); COURTESY OF NICHOLAS KIRKWOOD (SHOES) RIGHT: For shoes that some would call works of art, the shop at Wynn Las Vegas has a gallery vibe. BELOW LEFT: Black mesh and rabbit fur tall boots ($1,910). label in 2005. "We thought that was great for us in terms of brand awareness. And then, of course, there's a certain taste level associated with Wynn, an international reputation of being high-end. It wasn't a decision we took lightly, but when the offer came up, it was one we didn't need to mull over too much." The bright, posh-meets-practical space, with its gallerylike vibe, proves to be an ideal showcase for his highly sculptural, Italian-made styles. "I wanted something a bit light—that was important to me," Kirkwood says of the chic white space. "I wanted there to be a lightness that felt a bit like —NICHOLAS KIRKWOOD an art gallery, but not as stark as a gallery. If you look closely, it's actually a ABOVE: Suede very subtle mix of whites to prevent it from feeling pump with too monolithic. And of course the lack of color in black ruffle ($895). RIGHT: the store allows the shoes to be the color, to really Kirkwood fan be the center of attention. Our New York store Sarah Jessica Parker. has a bit more of an industrial feel about it; this feels a bit more polished, a higher standard of finish, more evolved. Of course, in New York we Kirkwood adds, including a pointed-toe pump—without quesalso have a skylight. At Wynn, I couldn't have a tion the hot shoe silhouette for fall—with a pleated black frill skylight unless I broke through the 44 stories above a metal stiletto heel and a spray of gold Swarovski Elements splashed across the toe, a design Kirkwood is offerabove." Color, texture, and Kirkwood's love of archi- ing in ocean blue, strawberry, and black. "A woman walking tectural detail take center stage in his Fall into the store usually does so because she's drawn to that beaucollection, as in the signature backward-placed tiful color," he says, "but you have to have plenty of black on platform in a mirrored-gold mosaic finish on a hand, especially in a city like Las Vegas, which is so ruled by its black-lace ankle boot, and the flurry of a pleated nightlife." This fall has also seen the debut of Kirkwood's first men's frill that snakes down the back of a stiletto heel. In the years before he introduced his own collection, inspired by the thought that he was crafting shoes label, he apprenticed under milliner Philip for himself before he ventured into women's designs. How Treacy, resulting in a foundation that explains might the adventurous feel about the impact of his women's Kirkwood's appreciation for unexpected details, collection on his men's shoes? "I want them to be kind of cool as in his boldly striped chevron pumps in bril- and feel a bit forward in their thinking, and yet not too fussy— liant color mixes (think of lime-green and brown for the boyfriend of the girl who wears my shoes, I think they'll zigzags topping a red heel) or the oversize pearl be just right," he says, pointing to black leather loafers subtly hidden on the underside of a pearl-trimmed adorned with diminutive gold studs, as well as more-highblack suede pump. "For fall, there was almost a wattage examples, such as oxfords in mirrorlike silver. sense of using couture materials and trims, Ultimately, in this city that loves its entrance-making, pearls and lace and embroideries, and then notice-me experiences, Kirkwood's aesthetic may have just taking classic ideas and reinterpreting them found its perfect home, he says. "You don't open a store so it can be a museum. You want to see the shoes worn, see how in modern silhouettes," he says. The Wynn boutique also women respond to them and walk in them. It's been an features a few exclusive, education, that's for certain, but one that's been great for limited-edition styles, us." Wynn Las Vegas, 702-770-3543; nicholaskirkwood.com V "You don't open a store so it can be a museum. You want to see the shoes worn, see how women respond to them." VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 85 084-085_V_SS_N_Kirkwood_Oct13.indd 85 9/17/13 5:25 PM