I had the pleasure of visiting Walter Steiger’s showroom for a private visit last spring and have been anxiously awaiting the fall 2010 collection. Known for decades of innovative creations in luxury footwear design and seen today in some of the hottest runway shows in NYC and Paris, the latest offerings include patent ski-slope toes and rugged rubber soles. Who knew rubber could be so sexy and edgy? On top of that, the metallic gold color available in a few styles is hypnotizing. If I could only buy one pair of shoes this fall, it would be the gold pump in the pic above.

You can currently find Walter Steiger in NYC on the corner of Park Avenue and 55th Street. There are other locations all over the world and hopefully sometime soon ( especially for you left coasters) we’ll see the collections in our favorite department stores like Nordi’s, Berfdorf’s, Saks, etc. More pics and details about Walter Steiger after the jump…

Above: With Jenn playing shoe dress-up in the showroom…um, heaven!

About Walter Steiger:

Walter Steiger as a company was started by Walter Steiger senior in 1932 as an exclusive tailored shoe atelier. Walter Steiger junior is the one who brings the brand to world wide fame starting by opening the first boutique in Paris in 1974 and soon after followed by Milan, London and New York.

He collaborated with some of the most legendary fashion designers such as Ungaro, Nina Ricci, Sonia Rykiel, Maison Chloé, Calvin Klein, Claude Montana, Oscar de la Renta, Kenzo, Alaïa, and Karl Lagerfeld.

Walter Steiger is probably one of the brands who influence the most the evolu- tion of the modern footwear design, its products are characterized by a minimal design, a traditional craft knowledge and the exclusive use of high-quality materi- als.

Innovation has always been the core of Walter Steiger’s design, many of his creations revolutionized the Shoe industry and many of them are now consid- ered classics. His contribution to the world of fashion includes the use of fluo- rescent leather, transparent plastic, the invention of the first high-heeled riding boot, a variety of heel shapes, boots designed as gloves and recently sandals with zippers at the back.

Walter Steiger is a family business, the distribution network is traditionally based exclusively on flagship stores, just a few and very selected external clients have access to the product.
Recently the third generation – Giulio and Paul Steiger – joined the management of the company.

The first strategic move they made was the opening of “Steiger Bottier” a Parisian studio dedicated to the excellence in made-to-mea- sure shoes for Men and Women.
Giulio and Paul are both involved in the design of the new collections bringing a new take on the creative process.

The new team starts collaborations with Akris, designing the footwear for the Paris fashion shows, and with young and talented emerging designers in New York.

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