It’s no secret that I love Spanish shoes, but I was completely blown away by Brenda Zaro.
Brenda Zaro comes from Elda, Alicante: the hub of the Spanish shoe industry. The brand unites four lines of women’s shoes under its umbrella: Walk Fine (elegant high heel shoes), MoveIn Comfort (everyday shoes), Be Transparent (transparent shoes), and BZ BIS (urban shoes).
The Be Transparent designs are the real show stoppers of the collection. Transparent shoes are usually associated with fairy tales and magic: Cinderella wore transparent shoes made out of crystal. Also, in a famous 20th century fantasy novel (“Master and Margarita”, by Mikhail Bulgakov) a woman spying on her neighbours is mesmerized by some transparent shoes a mysterious “lady”is wearing. Envious, she immediately concludes that the “lady” must be some important foreigner.
Real world transparent shoes are made from soft bendable plastic which is still rigid enough to retain its shape within the shoe vamp (the upper part of the shoe). They are then decorated with strips of leather, suede, or other material. The result very much depends on the taste and skill of the shoemaker. Brenda Zaro designers seem to have an unlimited supply of both. Take a look at these beauties from Brenda Zaro’s SS14 collection:
The MoveIn Comfort line is an array of astonishingly beautiful pumps and slingbacks. Many are a mix of suede and patent leather, enhanced with appliqués and metallic accents. Some of the pumps have rounded toes and all designs of this line have a medium to low heels – I guess that’s what makes them “comfort”, but in everything else they are the height of pretty.
BZ BIS – the urban line features sturdier soles as well as stud embellishments for a slightly edgier look:
Finally, the Walk Fine line has a stricter, more classic profile:
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen so many great shoes by one company, in one season’s collection! On a more practical side, even though the company exports widely, I have absolutely no idea whether these shoes are available in North America. I e-mailed the company and received no response. I hope to get more information in the near future.
Stay tuned!
Update: I received a response from the company. Unfortunately, they don’t have distribution in North America right now. I hope somebody will do something about this soon!