I first came across “Minna Parikka” when I was visiting Shhh..ooh in Edinburgh and Parikka’s elegant shoe designs instantly stood out. The blood drip design (or frosting if you want to think of it as something a little bit less morbid) through pieces of her collection instantly captivated me. After looking in to her designs a bit more I was hooked. I was declaring my love for Minna Parikka all over the shop, fantasising about my dream graduation shoes and posting links of nearly everything on the shop to my long suffering nearest and dearest.
Launched in 2005, Minna Parikka emerged from the designers love of shoes and tied close to the idea that “shoes-unlike clothes don’t need to be inhabited by a body in order to look attractive.” Its routes lay strongly in shoes as objects of power and how they can help shape how a woman looks and feels about herself. Parikka’s designs could only be crafted by a shoe lover. They are playful and surreal and all kinds of beautiful. I could have spent hours on the site shifting through her heels, clutch bags and collection of gloves.
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Parikka’s designs feel seamless and for me feel a bit like if Lulu Guinness did shoes.The same sense of whimsy without sacrificing craftsmanship is present in her designs. Her collection is wearable, practical and stylish – though I do have a fondness for her mask collection. While as a whole Parikka definitely has a certain edge throughout her collections it’s when you view her mask collection that she shrugs off any pretenses of being prim and proper. Her work is girlish and fanciful and you can tell that there is a real sense of fun running through her work.
If you’re Edinburgh based you can pick yourself up a pair of Minna Parikka’s in the wonderful boutique Shhh…ooh on 9a Castle Street (shoe lovers you will just DIE, ask to see the white room, trust me.) However for those of us who don’t fancy a trip to the Burgh you can buy online. Clocking in between £115-£300 a pair the seem like like something I may just be able to justify to myself.