Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times
June 5, 2005
Kicking Off Her Heels
By DAVID COLMAN
THERE is, of course, nothing like a stiletto. Spiky, dainty things, so complimentary to the foot and so alluring to the onlooker, they are so wildly uncomfortable for walking in the world that they function as a veritable badge of leisure.
Diane Von Furstenberg has been on the stiletto circuit longer than many, having embarked on an It Girl career some 30 years ago. She married Prince Egon Von Furstenberg. She invented the wrap dress. And she had so many licenses that even paper towels were scrawled with her signature. The 1980's were less, well, profitable. Today, married to her longtime friend Barry Diller, her dresses experiencing a heady revival and the Council of Fashion Designers of America presenting her with a lifetime achievement award tomorrow night, Ms. Von Furstenberg is standing glam and tall in heels again.
"Feet are so incredibly important," she said, like a character in Colette (the writer, not the store). "If I am going for a heel, the more uncomfortable, the better. You're going for attitude."
But stilettos will get you only so far ? like to a waiting Town Car. Which is why, when it comes to footwear, Ms. Von Furstenberg's favorite escape vehicle is a hiking boot. "I'm a Capricorn," she said. "I'm a climber. I'm a goat. I don't play tennis. I don't like arranged games. I like to do things where you can really go away. When you climb, you're silent."
Unlike those daring ladies who have scaled the Himalayas, Ms. Von Furstenberg does not go in for pitons, descenders and belay devices, being one of the garden-variety casual hikers whose ranks have exploded in recent memory. "I hike all the time," she said. "Barry and I have hiked in South America, in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, in Africa."
So no mammoth Timberlands with lug soles for her, no Mad Rock rubberized climbing shoes. "I love Tevas, but if you step on rocks...." She shrugged, suggesting the worst. "It's all about feeling secure."
Her favorite is a pair from Lowa, the German hiking boot company ? the Klondike Mid GTX LS II, to be exact. At $150, they are one of Lowa's best sellers. As Gun Week magazine put it, "They are all-day-long comfortable."
Kitted out with a waterproof Gore-Tex liner, the boots are light ? just 1.1 pounds each ? yet sturdy enough to reinforce her foot and ankle. "It's all about the ankle," Ms. Von Furstenberg cautioned.
While hiking is in theory a total escape, she does take along work ? or rather, she takes her hikes back to work. Squirreling away leaves, sticks and shells in her pack, or taking photographs of them, is how she invents new fabric designs, she said.
And fashionista that she is, she sees a certain allure to a good hiking boot. "When you're hiking, you look glamorous if you look real," she said. "These are sexy in a weird way, because of the power they give you. You feel you can handle anything."
Fine for the country, but in the city, you don't want to get too secure. That's why stilettos are good: you have to stay on your toes.
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company Home Privacy Policy Search Corrections RSS Help Contact Us Back to Top
