Her name may be unfamiliar, but Olivia Cognet has already acquired an impressive fashion footprint. She learned her trade at Robert Clergerie and Charles Jourdan before lending a hand to Guillaume Henry at Carven, where she created those floppy-tie pumps and cool loafers that were quickly copied everywhere.
Last season, Cognet, 30, launched an accessible, fashion-forward line of footwear called Apologie, whose best sellers have been surrealist-inspired slippers and the undulating Monica pump. “For me, shoes are a lot like architecture,” the Paris-based designer told Style.com. “Like sculptures, they have to stand on their own, but they have to comply with certain constraints.”
For Fall, Cognet nods to Scandinavian design by outfitting low boots with “heels like furniture” and using trompe l’oeil details or putting a rosewood-like finishing on grown-up Mary Janes. “I try to strip out anything too basic and make it chic, but with a twist,” she said. So, why Apologie? “I wanted something perennial and wasn’t interested in using my own name. Apologie is an old French word [meaning praise or vindication], but the intent is humorous. You could say it’s an apologie de la femme. Or else it could just be an apology: I’m sorry for launching yet another shoe brand, but I hope you’ll like it!” Apologie is available on shoescribe.com and apologie-paris.com. (style.com)
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