


Indeed,
Raphael Young`s creations are the opposite of clothing items. His artwork called shoe is beyond all characteristics of an accessories. It´s nothing that completes an outfit – it`s the outfit maker itself. And so I dare to state, that instead of “
urbanising haute couture shoes” – like Raphael Young himself considers his design attitude-, he´s “couturizing urban shoes”.


Platform, architectural and geometric shapes as well as material-mixes have been seen multiple times in shoe design. But the way, the Seoul-born designer courageously forces up those attributes to a uber-pointed scale, is beyond prêt-a-porter, it`s
shoe couture and
true master class. Compared to what we´ve seen in
his first collection, Raphael Young´s autumn/winter pieces push the level of shoe design out of reach for a standard fashionista but into the scale of the superior fashion. I am curious how far the designer will go with his third collection.
