Armadillo shoes show look 1

The first pair of armadillo shoes strode out onto the runway as part of the first look of Alexander McQueen’s spring summer 2010 show. This pair is one of the most distinctive of all of the shoes from the show (and in my view perhaps the most beautiful), being covered in a multicoloured reticulated python type print with a rainbow holographic iridescent sparkle on the front part of the shoes that mirrored the same sparkle in the dress.

The shoes were paired with a silk Jacquard dress in a snake pattern embroidered with yellow enamel paillettes in a honeycomb pattern and worn by model Magdalena Frackowiak.

Close up shots source: Elle via Heel Chorus (left), Pinterest (right).

Pre-show behind the scenes photo taken by set designer Joseph Bennett:

Post-show sightings

Post-show, there were a number of ‘sightings’ of these armadillos in various editorial features.

In the March 2010 issue of Vogue Germany, model Frida Gustavsson appeared in two photos wearing the Pair 1 armadillo shoes, shot by Greg Kadel.

In the first look (left) Frida is wearing the full show Look 1. In the second, the shoes are paired with shorts, a shirt and blazer (not McQueen).

The caption to the first look reads “ALEXANDER MCQUEEN Reptile-Appeal: Seidenminikleid in Pythonprint mid gelben Plaettchen auf den Taschen und Keulenaermeln um 11085 €, dazu Plateau-Ankle-boots aus Pythonleder” – Alexander McQueen Reptile Appeal: Silk mini dress in python print with yellow small plates [paillettes] on the pockets and club sleeves [I’m not sure if there is a different English name for these but it means a sleeve that is wide from the shoulder to the upper arm and narrow from the elbow to wrist] for € 11,085 plus python leather platform ankle boots.

The caption to the second look (only the bit about the boots) reads “Pythonleder-Ankleboots: Alexander McQueen” – Python leather ankle boots: Alexander McQueen

The shoes also featured in the same issue of Vogue UK in a spread entitled ‘Cyber Tribe‘, worn by Freja Beha Erichsen and shot by Josh Olins (double spread photos below, although the shoes only feature in the second photo). The text in relation to the armadillo shoes reads “Snakeskin boots, to order, Alexander McQueen”.

The shoes also appeared in an editorial titled The Eco Warrior for the Spring 2010 issue of i-D, worn by Isabeli Fontana, shot by Richard Bush and styled by Sarah Richardson.

Since then, the dress from Look 1 has featured as part of both the Savage Beauty exhibition held at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute in 2011 and at the London Victoria and Albert Museum in 2015. But in neither show was it paired with the shoes from the show.

At the 2011 Metropolitan Museum of Art New York version of Savage Beauty, the first look dress (far right in the below photo) was paired with a black pair of armadillo shoes with ankle cuffs. 

At the 2015 V&A London version of Savage Beauty, the first look (far right below) was paired with a tan coloured pair of patterned armadillo shoes rather than the shoes from the show look.