American shoe designer Beverly Feldman, 63, doesn’t believe in
subtlety.

Speaking to Urban while she was in town for a short holiday stopover in April, Feldman was dressed in an over-the-top outfit that included a top embellished with rhinestones and crystals, chunky jewellery and blinged-out bag.

Her design ethos mirrors her outfit.

Says Feldman: “My designs are completely overdone and there’s always too much on my shoes. My motto is ‘too much is not enough’ and I believe there are many women out there who believe in that too.”

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Feldman was trained as a shoe illustrator
and designer at New York’s Pratt Institute. She started designing shoes at the age of 23 and by the time she turned 31, the sassy designer had launched her own shoe company.

Forty years on, she is still going strong, designing almost 700 pairs of shoes every year. The divorcee has been described as one of the most successful female shoe designers in the world by the likes of media mogul Oprah Winfrey and supermodel Tyra Banks.

“I could do more because when I’m inspired I can go on forever. But the factory
stops me because they cannot keep up with me. They prefer small collections,” she says.

Inspiration for her comes from travelling. Every year, she travels for 2½ months to
many different locations all over the world, in search of items that she then translates into designs for her shoes. One such item was a belt she purchased in Milan early last year.

“The belt had 60 buttons on it, so I took a few and had them reproduced as part of the design for the shoes in my latest collection.”

The rest of the year is mostly spent in her studio in Spain designing and perfecting her collection.

When asked what defines a good pair of shoes, Feldman says: “Something comfortable, pretty and that makes any woman happy when she’s wearing them.”

>> 8 things in Beverly Feldman's bag

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times.