High Art: The Shoes of Chrissie Morris

At a certain point, a shoe stops being a shoe and becomes a work of art—like when it's made from stingray and python skins, embedded with semiprecious stones and crystals, and amazes from every angle. By these guidelines, Chrissie Morris' shoes are veritable masterpieces, but the last thing she wants them to be is precious. "I want to create something that's unusual, yet feminine and easy to wear," Morris explains. "My shoes are for women like me, my mother, my sister—strong women with strong personalities, who like beautiful things."

Indeed, it takes a strong woman not to be overshadowed by Morris' powerful designs. Although she's inspired by a variety of time periods, from the medieval era to the '60s to a sci-fi future, her primary point of aesthetic reference is art-deco design. Every last detail of a Chrissie Morris shoe is carefully considered—sharp, geometric lines merge with soft curves based on deco floral motifs, Swarovski crystals accent and reflect the materials on which they sit, and matte suede and shiny stingray are juxtaposed at precise angles in order to sculpt the foot.

One would imagine that any footwear designer with such technical savoir-faire would need to draw on decades of experience, but Morris actually got her start in knitwear. After completing her degree at Liverpool John Moores University, she headed to Milan for post-graduate studies and promptly became enamored with the city's famed leathers. "When you're in Italy, you can't help but notice the beautiful shoes," says Morris. "I started out by manipulating leather into my master's thesis knitwear collection, and from there I decided to move into shoes so I could experiment with leather on a smaller scale."

While knitwear and shoes may sound like they have little in common, Morris insists that's not the case, saying that they both prize detail and construction. Her new studies must have served her well, as shortly afterwards, she was hired as a footwear designer for a Spanish design company, Sinela Gallery, where she remained until launching her own label in Milan in 2007.

So far, Morris' blend of Italian craftsmanship and British innovation has been well received, with boutiques from Moscow to Tokyo to Copenhagen picking up her first collection. Although her use of such unusual materials places her designs firmly in the niche "ultra-luxury" camp, Morris considers them integral to her work. "They're my little jewels," she says. "They make everything seem so exquisite."

—Erin Magner