So, having had a closer look at the Alexander McQueen armadillo shoes that featured as part of show look 1, the question is, where are they now? Who owns them?
Who owns this pair of armadillo shoes?
Until recently I believed that this pair of armadillo shoes was still in the possession of Alexander McQueen.
On 22 March 2024, the following photo was posted to Instagram:
The shoes featured as part of a carousel of images posted on Instagram by a former employee at McQueen. In the background of the photo are a few bags – two Bow bags in yellow and green and The Curve in black. The Bow Bag was unveiled to the public in June 2022 so it is assumed that the photo dates from around 2022.
It would make sense that this pair were perhaps still with McQueen, being the first show look and one of the most distinctive pairs.
However, this turned out to not be the case.
In June 2024, the exhibition NAOMI: In Fashion exhibition opened at the V&A in London. Produced in collaboration with Naomi Campbell, NAOMI: In Fashion celebrates Naomi’s contribution as an individual model to the fashion industry.
The final section of the exhibition was focused on and draws upon Campbell’s own extensive wardrobe of haute couture and ready-to-wear ensembles from key moments in her career, along with loans from designer archives and objects from the V&A’s collections.
And what formed part of this section? Look 1 from the Spring/Summer 2010 Plato’s Atlantis show, both dress and armadillo shoes.
The exhibition label reads as follows:
“ALEXANDER MCQUEEN
Reptile-patterned Look with Armadillo Boots
‘I just loved [this look] I just wanted to have [it] because I know the design, the intricate workmanship that went into it is a piece of art in itself.’
Alexander McQueen’s 2010 Plato’s Atlantis collection was the first to be live-streamed not he internet. Its textile patterns are reminiscent of reptile skins and scales. It was the last collection McQueen designed to completion before his death. Campbell modelled this look in a charity fashion show to aid survivors of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
Ready-to-wear, Spring/Summer 2010
UK
Silk jacquard, enamel (jacket, skirt); synthetic and metallic textile, leather (boots)
Lent by Naomi Campbell”
So it seems that the shoes are not in fact still with McQueen, but are in fact now owned by Naomi Campbell.
At least for the 2010 Fashion For Relief charity auction, the shoes were not paired with the dress, Naomi Campbell instead wearing one of the Alien pairs of shoes.
It is not clear when Naomi purchased either the look or the armadillo shoes that formed part of the Plato’s Atlantis runway show look 1. The shoes certainly seemed to be in the possession of McQueen at some point from around 2022, but whether or not temporarily, is not known.