High quality, the best craftsmanship traditions and a passion for style are the main principles behind the handmade shoes by London-based label Red By Wolves. Company founder and designer Lena Lipp creates modern men and women’s shoes with sharp and well-defined silhouettes, using the softest and best leathers. History merges with modern designs in her styles that often blend and perfectly balance masculinity and femininity. The result is perfect with designs that are always full of style and charm. What’s most important though is that Red By Wolves footwear is not about trends, but about timeless shoes. While every season new styles are added to a collection, the main signature styles are still produced. Lena is at present working on new designs that will hopefully be ready by mid-January, but she gave me a bit of her precious time to answer my questions. Please meet Red By Wolves’s Lena Lipp.
Question: Can you tell me more about your background? Where did you study footwear design?
Answer: I grew up in Germany where I was about to start a degree in biochemistry when I came to London to take a gap year. I went on to study fashion design at Istituto Marangoni in London where I specialised in Menswear and Accessories. I did a course at Cordwainers and then learned under a bespoke shoemaker. I guess the way I came to make shoes was quite an organic one. I always had a lot of interests but I absolutely love what I’m doing now. I never only wanted to be just a shoe designer but I love the making - from design to the finished shoes. Shoemaking has such an old tradition, it’s sad so much of it gets lost in mass production.
Q: When did you launch Red by Wolves?
A: I launched Red By Wolves late 2007.
Q: What inspired you the name of the label?
A: I wanted the name to recall the style of the shoes. The name Red by Wolves is a mixture of the phrase raised by wolves and the colour red, which is one of my favourites but also has something exclusive within the history of shoemaking. King Louis the 14th of France was really short and started wearing heels, which became a big trend in France. He then introduced a law that said only the king and aristocracy were allowed to wear red heels – which set them apart from the rest of the people. I always wanted the shoes to be exclusive and special – I think any handmade products are, because you’re so involved in the progress.
Q: Some of your creations have a rock/punk edge, what music do you listen to whilst you work?
A: I prefer live music to recorded music. I love going to gigs. It inspires me more to see the people that are connected with a certain music than hearing a produced version. But I do love listening to old records like Joy Division's, they didn’t have all the technology and just recorded what they played and that’s it. I don’t like music that is too “pretty” and polished, I like music to have a bit of an edge to it.
Q: What is the nicest comment you have ever received about your work?
A: Sometimes people come up to me and say they love the shoes that I’m wearing. They don’t know who I am or what I do they just see the shoes.
Q: Do you have any celebrities among your customers?
A: I don’t know really, I don’t have my own shop so I can’t always monitor who’s buying them, but I know that Alison Mosshart from The Kills really likes the shoes.
Q: What’s your Red by Wolves fave pair of shoes?
A: I love the "Giulia" boots at the moment, I’m wearing them all the time, but I can’t wait to get the "Maggie" flat gladiator sandal out for Summer and the "Yvan" and "Mirja" as well, though I like different shoes on different people.
Q: What is the main theme behind your latest collection?
A: The Spring/Summer 2009 collection was inspired by Berlin. I love the contrasts and the creativity of the city. The collection is very urban, putting rough, defined perforated leather against suede and crystals. My muse for the collection was Ulrike Meinhof, a German journalist from the 70s, who later became a member of the German left wing terrorist group RAF (Red Army Fraction). And if I was to choose a song to accompany the collection it would be Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's "Whatever Happened To My Rock’n’Roll".
Q: What’s more important: clothes or shoes?
A: I think there are far more important things than clothes or shoes! They are maybe relevant, but not important. I think clothes and shoes are just part of a lifestyle and culture, a pair of shoes or a dress won’t change your life.
Q: Who is your favourite footwear designer?
A: There are a lot of footwear designers I respect a lot and really like what they’re doing, but my real inspiration are old shoemakers. I work a lot with really old shapes as well, that I “inherit”. I’ve got hundreds of old wooden shoe lasts (the last is the wooden “foot” the shoe gets moulded around) from the 50s, 60s and 70s that I collected over the years. Most of them are half rotten or too brittle to use, but they are a great inspiration when it comes to shapes.
Q: If you could do an interview for Vogue with a famous footwear designer, who would you interview and why?
A: A while ago I read about the shoe maker/designer Natacha Marro, who also did a lot of catwalk shoes last season, but makes beautiful theatrical shoes. I haven’t met her yet, but I’d love to have a chat with her.
Q: Would you like to collaborate with a fashion designer one day? Who?
A: If it was for the aesthetics, I really like the Belgian conceptual designers like Ann Demeulemeester or newer generation Raf Simons, but I’d love to hand make small exclusive collections for catwalk or costume shoes for film/theatre. I’d like to collaborate with a variety of creatives really, not just fashion designers.
Q: What are your future plans and ambitions for the Red By Wolves label?
A: Red By Wolves is still a very new concept, so the whole brand is still very small. A lot of things are happening by themselves, you can’t really plan or force things. The label is developing on its own. I love shoes, designing and making them and I guess at the moment I just want to keep on doing it.
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DEAREST LENA!!
SO MUCH CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU!!!
IT'S RU FROM CHINA!!!
I HAVE READ AN ARTICAL ABOUT YOUR LABEL "RED BY WOLVES"!!BY ACCIDENTLY.
LOVE & KISSES!!
Posted by: LINRU CAI | May 12, 2009 at 02:07 PM
FORGOT TO TELL YOU,
LOVE YOUR CHOESES!!!!!!!
Posted by: LINRU CAI | May 12, 2009 at 02:09 PM