When Aerin Lauder, founder of an eponymous lifestyle empire and granddaughter of beauty maven Estée, made the decision to expand her company into footwear for spring 2013, she looked to her “wonderful summer escapes” for inspiration.
“I go to Long Island every summer,” the ultra-stylish multihyphenate, who has a home in East Hampton near hot-spot Georgica, told DuJour on Wednesday night at Bloomingdale’s, “It’s my favorite place to be. It’s paradise!” In fact, the Hamptons is not the only Lauder-approved destination that served as inspiration: all of the styles in the 15-piece collection are named after her favorite retreats, like Newport, Corsica and Salinas.
But, as with the Hamptons, Lauder revealed that she also plays favorites when it comes to her shoe line, which includes sandals, wedges, heels, sneakers and ballet slippers. “I love the ballet slippers!” she exclaimed, “I love that they’re cut out, it feels so modern and fresh.”
While the collection is clearly contemporary, Lauder was also inspired by her family’s past – and, most specifically, her grandmother’s solid-gold taste. “She always wore a gold sandal in the summertime,” Lauder recalled of the beauty icon, continuing to clearly articulate how this line embodies her personal preferences, “Gold is my favorite color.”
Aerin Lauder’s footwear collection is available at Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, and www.aerin.com.
