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EMMA HOPE, LONDON SHOE DESIGNER, TO BE SUBJECT OF UPCOMING FASHION SYMPOSIA Emma Hopes beautifully designed and meticulously crafted womens and mens shoes represent the epitome of elegant footwear for the style-savvy. Ms. Hopes work is international in scope as is her clientele: work with Anna Sui, Paul Smith, Mulberry and others has been highly sought since she began her career in the mid 1980s. A graduate of the Cordwainers College, Ms. Hopes work caught the eye of American scholar and curator, Dr. Kimberly Alexander, while preparing for an exhibition on historic garments and textiles for Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA. Over the last two and a half years the pair has discussed those time honored, yet some what intangible qualities which embody some of the most elegant and regal shoes created in the UK, those crafted during the reign of the Hanovarian Georges. The focus on the Georgian London shoe has served as an inspiration for Ms. Hopes recent line Thread: Regalia for Feet. Silkbrocade: Commoditization of the London Georgian Shoe and its Reception in Colonial America will be presented at FASHIONING THE CITY at the the Royal College of Art this September and, in November, Hope and Alexander will travel to Florence to deliver Brocade and Paste Buckles: The London Shoes of Thomas Ridout, James Davis and Emma Hope at the Costume Colloquium. The pair will discuss the urban fabric, literally and figuratively, of London at Aldgate and Cheapside and the cordwainers such as Davis, Ridout and the Hose family who perfected their craft during this time. The opportunity for Hope and Alexander to discuss the past/present dialectic as embodied by the creation of shoes creates exciting opportunities for designers, costume historians and anyone who has wanted to experience the elegance of a past era in their own time. Their 20102011 collaboration resulted in Ms. Hope designing three pairs of shoes for the exhibition entitled Thread: The Story of New England Fashion. Plans are currently underway for a 2013 publication by Blue Tree (USA).

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