For Shoe Aficionados, Spring Line Is Their Heart and Sole

Wearing flip-flops never looked so cool. They may never be accepted in ritzy restaurants, but that hasn’t kept shoe designers from dressing them up with rhinestones, colored jewels and glitter.

All that glitters, it seems, means gold in the shoe world. Shoes are a multibillion-dollar industry, and at the World Shoe Assn. Convention at the Sands Expo earlier this month, designers offered retail buyers a glimpse of their 2002 spring lines. It’s the country’s largest footwear show, with 24,000 people attending.

The event was more crowded than a bargain shoe sale at the mall. Shoes on shelves, shoes on models, and, at many booths, shoes all over the floor as part of a display for buyers.

“Our line right now is running the gamut,” said Elissa Kravetz, marketing executive for Steve Madden. “Fashion is going everywhere.” Kravetz said many of the company’s shoes are inspired by the 1970s and ‘80s--funky slip-ons, crazy platforms (very “Sex and the City,” Kravetz said) and pointy high heels with straps that wrap around the ankle.

Then there are those dressy flip-flops that come in just about every color and with just about any jewel on them. The shoes are cute for a day at the beach, but that strap that separates the big toe from its neighbor might not be too comfortable on an all-day shopping trip. (Hint: Kravetz said to wear a Band-Aid between your toes for two weeks and the shoes will fit like a charm.)

Of course, Steve Madden and most other designers here also sell men’s shoes, but they’re not nearly as fun. Black casual, black dressy, brown casual, brown dressy. You get the picture.

As for colors, bolds and pastels are in, especially with FUBU, which stands for For Us By Us. Tennis shoes with popping colors such as neon orange lined the shelves of FUBU’s booth. “Our consumer likes attraction,” said Courtney Delmore, vice president of sales. “They want to be noticed.”

The company targets men and women ages 14 to 25 and hopes their “cutting-edge customers,” as Delmore calls them, will snap up the new designs--camouflage tennis shoes, denim tennis shoes and tennis shoes that glow in the dark.

The glowing shoes resemble an ice cream sundae with their speckled material and brown, stretched rubber stripes wrapping the sides. As for Delmore, he’s not slipping on neon shoes. “I’m 40 years old,” he said. “I’ve crossed that barrier. I’ve grown out of this look.”

The look at Skechers is gorgeous models--the young, hip ones at the booth and the ones in their poster ads, actors Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe and singer Britney Spears. Oh, and the shoes are pretty cool, too.

The company is targeting 12-to 24-year-olds living in the “style-conscious household,” according to company spokeswoman Kelly O’Connor.

There were suede sneakers, even some blue suede shoes Elvis would fancy, jeweled tennis shoes, shoes with fruit and flower designs and shoes with the bottoms made out of cork.

Some slip-on Skechers featured a butterfly cut out of the cork heel, a shoe teenagers will go for, O’Connor predicted. And, of course, there was glitter. “Glitter is huge,” O’Connor said.

Several companies are trying to bring back the old days of roller skating with roller tennis shoes. If kids toss aside their in-line skates, they can don fancy Skecher tennis shoes propped up on four bright red wheels.

Back at Steve Madden’s booth, Kravetz has spent eight hours on her feet in pale yellow heels by designer David Aaron. Cute, yes, but comfortable?

“Right now, at 4 o’clock, they’re not.”