Brian Atwood (born August 4, 1967) is an American

shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture ...

designer of Mexican descent. He studied at the

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college in New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) and focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. ...

before becoming a

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Women's shoe designer

In 1996, after modeling for seven years he was the first American designer hired by

Gianni Versace Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace (; 2 December 1946 – 15 July 1997) was an Italian fashion designer, socialite and businessman. He was the founder of Versace, an international luxury-fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-u ...

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, later being chief

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

of women's accessories. Atwood was named the Shoe Designer of the year in 2010 and 2011 by the Red Carpet Fashion Awards. and was recipient of the CDA Swarovski Perry Ellis Award for Best Accessory Design and the 2010 Footwear News Designer of the Year award.

Design philosophy

Summarizing his design philosophy Atwood said, “It’s not only 20-year-olds who want a six-inch heel.” But conversely he stated, “some women don’t want or can’t walk in the high heels. That’s something we’re responding to very quickly. They like the fun fashion shoe — on a sensible heel, sometimes." He also likened his philosophy for designing for women on women's whimsical relationship with shoes. “I’ve always compared my work to the Cinderella factor, where her life changed when she slid into that shoe. It’s kind of magical, the relationship women have with their shoes.”

Shoe line

The Brian Atwood shoe line was launched in 2001. His budget line of shoes is B Brian Atwood. This brand retails for US$200 to US$500 as opposed to his main line of shoes which retails for $525 to $2900. The B Brian Atwood brand was later entered into a partnership agreement with shoemaker, Steve Madden (NASDAQ:SHOO), who purchased the Jones Group stake.

Author

He is the author of the book, ''Pumped'', a study of stiletto heels.

Media coverage

Atwood was covered as his shoes being worn by

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

at her 30th birthday party Media coverage of Atwood has included Bebo, and Jessica Chastain. His Instagram account reportedly has 460,000 followers. He has been described as a shoe guru. In 2012, Atwood advertisements in New York were banned for nudity.

Personal life

He attended Joliet Catholic High School in Joliet, IL. and studied art and architecture at

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

. He further studied clothes design at the

(FIT) in New York, NY. Atwood is married to Dr. Jake Deutsch. The couple live in Hudson Yards in the New York area. They have two dogs, Zeffirelli and Tiberius.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atwood, Brian Living people American fashion designers Shoe designers 1967 births