Nine West at the New Museum

Last week, I went down to the New Museum on Bowery to check out Nine West's upcoming pre-Fall collection.

I've been shopping at Nine West ever since I can remember. I've always loved that they make great affordable shoes. And in the past couple of years, I've noticed that the shoes have become ever more fashion forward.

When I met Fred Allard, Nine West's creative director, I understood why. He joined the company a couple of years back and comes armed with a luxury design background. He was kind enough to give me a tour of the collection, and after speaking to him, I got a sense of his global vision for the brand.

I find this kind of fascinating, because it's something I see everywhere in fashion. In part, it involves that mix of high and low. Target is doing it. H&M. Payless. Nine West, too (remember their guest designer collaborations with Vivienne Westwood, Thakoon, and Sophia Kokosalaki?) It's also extremely fascinating to me when I see designers with a high end background going mass market. I'm already seeing the good Patrick Robinson is doing at the Gap.

It's these crossovers in every corner of the market which, I think is the result of globalization and technology. Everything is at our fingertips. I'm not just talking about the extreme highs and lows here, but that middle market. There are some talented contemporary designers out there who compete pretty fiercely against all the big guns in the high end luxury market.

I digress. As for the shoes. I fell in love with these hybrid booties. And the whole faux snake collection had this cool 80s vibe that, once they hit the stores, I won't be able to resist.