Designer Spotlight: Walter Steiger Spring 2012

by The ShoesTV Team January 30th, 2012 at 12:46 PM

Walter Steiger may not be a common name outside of fashion circles, but with fans like Beyonce, Kelly Rowland and Kendall Jenner, that is changing. This week, ShoesTV shines our Designer Spotlight on Walter Steiger.

Walter Steiger

Walter Steiger studied shoemaking under his father, Walter Steiger, Sr., in the 1950s. His father operated a custom shoe atelier business. After a decade of traveling and designing shoes, Steiger (Jr.) launched his namesake brand in 1967. It was a huge success and seven years later he opened his first boutique in Paris--soon followed by stores in Milan, London and New York.

A bright platform open toe shoe from the Walter Steiger Spring 2012 Collection.

Steiger has collaborated with legendary fashion designers such as Ungaro, Nina Ricci, Sonia Rykiel, Maison Chloé, Calvin Klein, Claude Montana, Oscar de la Renta, Kenzo, Azzedine Alaïa and Karl Lagerfeld.

Kendall Jenner in Walter Steiger heels.

Steiger's contributions to the world of fashion include the use of fluorescent leather, transparent plastic, the invention of the first high heel riding boot, various heel shapes, boots designed as gloves and (recently) sandals with back zippers.

A Spring 2012 Collection high heel sandal with Steiger's signature "bowed" heel.

Walter Steiger is a family business and the distribution network is based on flagship stores with just a few select clients having access to the collections. Recently the third generation of shoemakers, Giulio and Paul Steiger, signed on to help manage the company. Their first bold move was opening the “Steiger Bottier,” a Parisian studio dedicated to made-to-measure shoes for men and women.

A Spring 2012 Walter Steiger platform, high heel sandal.

The new team started collaborations with Akris, designing the footwear for the Paris fashion shows. Giulio and Paul are both involved in the design of the new collections but Walter remains the "heart of the creative process."