If 21 pairs of armadillo shoes ‘officially’ exist as part of the Plato’s Atlantis collection but only 20 pairs walked the runway, what happened to the 21st pair?
There doesn’t seem to be an official answer for this anywhere, but perhaps the campaign image for Spring/Summer 2010 provides the answer.
Shot by Nick Knight and featuring Raquel Zimmermann, the image shows Raquel in a lycra bodysuit, draped in snakes and wearing a lime green pair of plain python armadillo shoes.
Neither the bodysuit nor the shoes featured on the runway. In the absence of any other information, it’s probably safe to say, these are the 21st pair of armadillo shoes.
Raquel Zimmermann didn’t just feature in the campaign photo for the collection, she also starred in the fashion film that opened Alexander McQueen’s Spring/Summer 10 show. The film was created by McQueen, Nick Knight and Ruth Hogben. The film can be found here. The campaign photo clearly echoes the video, which starts with Raquel nude in the sand before snakes are shown slithering in her hair and over her body, then transforming into a mass of snakes echoing patterns that would be seen in the prints on the runway. The video then morphs between shots of Raquel in water followed by motifs seen in the prints which are then projected onto her body like a skin. The video served as a powerful prelude to the runway show.