Shoe fans in step with this show

7/26/2001

Hopelessly devoted to shoes? You may want to head to Ann Arbor tonight for "Fun, Funky and Phenomenal Foot Coverings: Stores of Shoes and Their Importance, Past and Present."

The free lecture, presented by Nancy Bryck, curator at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, takes place at 7 tonight in the Ann Arbor Art Center, 117 West Liberty. The talk will include stories of how some shoe types were developed, their importance in history, unique designs, and cultural differences in footwear. The lecture is part of the center's “Well-Heeled: A Shoe Exhibition,” a juried exhibition showcasing art that has some connection to shoes. The show closes Sunday. The center's hours are Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m., and Sunday noon-5 p.m.

Four designers were added last week to New York City's Fashion Walk of Fame on Seventh Avenue between 38th and 40th streets, the city's garment district - Oscar de la Renta, Donna Karan, James Galanos, and Pauline Trigere. Four posthumous additions also were made - Anne Klein, Bonnie Cashin, Giorgio di Sant' Angelo, and Charles James.

They join last year's eight, the first to be so honored: Geoffrey Beene, Bill Blass, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Rudi Gernreich, Halston, Claire McCardell, and Norman Norell.

The Fashion Walk of Fame is modeled after the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.

The designers were selected by a committee of retailers, museum curators, and fashion editors. To be nominated, American designers had to have a significant presence in New York, own their businesses for at least 10 years, and have made a powerful impact on fashion either through design or use of materials, or influence the way America dresses.