The Many Glorious Shoes of Paris

This is the Holy Land, the city that shoe lovers all over the world dream about.  Paris is a great shopping mecca, with more stores per square mile than any other city in the world. But for shoe fanatics, it’s paradise. High fashion shoes for women prevail and the high heels match the high prices. Whet your appetite in the swanky shopping districts along the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, Avenue Montaigne, Louvre-Tuileries, and Place Vendôme. Don’t forget the funky independent designers in Abbesses, the Marais, and Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

The essential destination for any fashionista in Paris is Christian Louboutin's flagship store. There's always something magical about visiting the first/original flagship.

This cozy store displays one-of-a-kind shoes in an intimate, exhibit-like environment.
 Not only are the red-soled heels beautifully crafted and flattering, somehow the designer’s creations manage to be comfortable, too. With shoes lovingly presented on illuminated shelves, Louboutin’s Left Bank boutique looks more like an art installation than a shop.

The Designer - Fiona Saunders

In the late 1990's British Artist Fiona Saunders, famous for her art prints featuring elaborate ladies' shoes, was asked to design a series of shoes for Limoges Boxes. The result is a stunning collection embellished with an array of fabric & faux stones. Each design was produced in limited quantities of 300.

Fiona Saunders was born in 1965 in Harrow, England. She was educated in London at St. Martens School of Art and at the Royal College of Art, England's most prestigious post graduate art College. Since then she has worked as an illustrator and graphic designer.

To produce her series of shoes as art, Saunders traveled to historic homes of shoemaking such as Northampton, England where she found an inspiring collection of shoes. She also studied the works of twentieth century masters including Vivier, Blahnik and Ferragamo, paying homage in her work to the many artists and artisans throughout the ages who have inspired her.