Kobi Levi and His Seriously Silly Shoes

Just when you think it isn't possible to reinvent the high heel yet again, along comes a truly original designer who proves you wrong.  Kobi Levi is that guy.

Kobi's wonderful Chewing Gum shoes made me smile so hard the first time I saw them.  The heel looks like the wearer is pulling away from a glob of chewing gum stuck on the floor.  I agree that sounds unpleasant but somehow, Kobi Levi has moulded a pair of high heeled shoes that have such incredible movement that you can't fail to get the joke.

My pick of the collection - could you imagine how much attention you would get wearing a pair of these divine Flamingo shoes with their cute bent leg heels?

And what about the awesome colours and neat design of these Mallard shoes?

Making the high heel the focal point of the design and executing all the other design elements around it is an approach that really appeals to me and I don't think there is a weak link in the entire collection.  All of Kobi Levi's shoes seem to have this perfect and brilliant combination of sharp, chic design and silliness that just makes me giggle like a kid.  I do mean that in a good way.

Based in Israel, Kobi Levi hand makes all these beautiful shoes in limited editions in his studio.  His work is admittedly quite a bit pricer than the usual fare of this blog (Kobi Levi's designs retail at around $1500 -$2000) but it seems he's about to hit the big time.  This week his collection featured in the famous Shoe Galleries at Selfridges so expect to see alot more of Kobi Levi's work in Britain over the coming months.

Is it too much to hope that Kobi Levi shoes might forge a collaboration with a high street retailer one day?  Seriously, TopShop I'm looking at you.