Dear Shaded Viewers,
The Business of Design Week in Hong Kong, which is going on now till the 7th, is dedicated to Belgian creativity. Antwerp based companies Diarough/UNI-Design and A.F. Vandevorst have collaborated in creating the most expensive pair of diamond boots in the world and they are pretty amazing.If they were platforms I'd slip them on toute suite. Her Royal Highness the Queen of the Belgians, the Minister-President of the Government of Flanders Kris Peeters and the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders were in Hong Kong for the unveiling of the diamond boots on the 4th of December.
As you know one of Antwerp's most famous industries is DIAMONDS. The sparkling project is shared by The Antwerp World Diamond Centre and Flanders Fashion Institute that selected Diarough, a leading diamond company and the design duo A.F. Vandevorst to shape the project and all I can say is BRAVO. A F Vandervorst designed a pair of black leather ankleboots with a paisley pattern and then it was completely covered with 1,527 carats of white and natural fancy colored champagne, grey and pink diamonds from Diarough/UNI-Design. A team of highly skilled craftsmen at the Indian manufacturing plant of UNI-Design set all 38, 883 diamonds on the boots. Imagine shipping this treasure…
30,000 hours were spent devoted to this project from the designing to production of the boots, selecting, sorting and shipping the diamonds to finally the actual setting of the diamonds on the boots. The location for the unveiling was the Sevva restaurant, one of the most exclusive venues in downtown Hong Kong. Chinese artist Yi Zhou had the honor of walking the boots around a catwalk on Sevva’s 180-degree balcony with Hong Kong’s stunning skyline in the background. Yi Zhou described as “the modern-day Chinese Hitchcock, Yoko Ono and Cindy Sherman all in one” had a film with WIng Shya in the current edition of ASVOFF. If you have deep pockets and are looking for that extra special xmas gift, the pair of boots is now for sale for 3,188,000 USD.
Later,
Diane
