Were you girls a design team prior to studying at Ars Arpel School in Milan or did you meet there? As a team, did you always want to design shoes or was it something you fell into along the way?
We met when we both started work in the same week as junior designers for an Australian footwear group. We clicked immediately and it wasn’t long before we were planning our own label together. We’ve always both been interested in shoes and our passion and study drew us together. We both studied fashion design in Italy at different times and we’ve worked together now since 2003.

As designers, you maintain a “strong focus on the silhouette” of the shoes for your line tom gunn. Are you inspired by architecture in modern and ancient building? What about the architecture of nature like mountains and valleys?
We are inspired by everything around us. We collect images and photos on an inspiration board when we start to design a new collection and quite often use both modern and ancient architecture as inspiration as well as nature. We then zero in on the small details and take lines and shapes from the image to create the design lines of the shoes.

You source leathers and exotic skins from some of the top Italian tanneries. What about these materials make your shoes stand out from other lines? Has working with such high-end materials changed your perception of the footwear industry as a whole?
We absolutely love working with beautiful Italian leathers and exotic skins. The best quality materials make the shoe much more luxurious and comfortable. Snake and lizard leathers also have such a gorgeous texture that adds another dimension to the design.

There are so many footwear labels using low-end, cheap and plastic materials to keep the prices extremely low. This means you get what you pay for in terms of quality and comfort. Now we strive to use the best materials we can to ensure our shoes are luxurious, comfortable and the wearer will love them!

Do you look to forecasting trends for the colors and textures you use for your collections, or does the inspiration stem from inner creativity? Or is it a mix of both?
We build our colour palette from our images on our inspiration board. We love colour and leathers so we usually choose them first before we even start talking about design details for the collection. We don’t look at forecasting trends but design based on how we’re feeling and on what we would like to have in our shoe collections at that time! Of course, this means we need to wait six months for the shoe we’re coveting at the time, but it’s worth the wait!

Who and what inspires you? From nature to buildings, and blogs to other designers, where do you turn when a creativity block comes along?
Our design time is the most fun part of running the label so we usually come into it bursting with ideas and inspirations we’ve been dreaming about after the previous collection. There are a few amazing blogs including The Selby, Jak & Jil and Sea of Shoes we love looking at and some designers that inspire us are Dries Van Noten, Phoebe Philo of Celine and Consuelo Castiglioni of Marni.

It is so amazing tom gunn was awarded Footwear Designer of the Year at the 2010 2threads Fashion Awards. How has this changed the attention toward your brand?
Winning the 2Threads Footwear Designer of the Year was fantastic! It has certainly helped raise the profile of our brand and we have received many more inquiries and press.

You can learn more about tom gunn on the brand’s website.

Check out a few images of Karl Lagerfeld’s Paris studio as shot by The Selby.

LINK LOVE: Jezebel via The Selby

Todd Selby is a blogger who is building a career on snapping photos of some of the coolest places we’ve never seen. After a few minutes of looking through his new book, “The Selby Is In Your Place” I came realize one thing, MY APARTMENT TOTALLY SUCKS. Thankfully, Todd offered some tips on how to make it better.

Check out our interview below…

FI: What’s your dream shoot? Which celebrity home would you love to shoot?

TS: I really wanna shoot Obama’s White House, he really is the biggest celebrity in the world. I haven’t asked him yet but I’m working on it.  I have a seven year plan to get in so as long he gets reelected,  I’m sure I’ll have an in.

FI: Have you ever been to a home and thought it was just too hideous to shoot?

TS: No, I do a lot of research before, so I’m always sure when I go. I don’t go without knowing.

FI: What’s been your favorite destination so far?

TS: Tahiti, I went last fall with Nike, when I was working with them, and it was amazing. I wanna go back and go to Bora Bora.

FI: Do you ever get requests from people begging you to shoot their homes?

TS: Oh yeah,  I get so many. Sometimes celebrities, a lot of publicists, but I don’t really pay attention to those.  A lot of people around the world which I keep and get to.  I get so many so I’m always going through it.  It’s really cool though when people send me pictures of their places.

FI: Ikea or Bo Concept?

TS: I don’t know what Bo Concept is.

I’ll make my own furniture.

FI: What is your dream house or apartment?

TS: I really like Retts Wood’s house that I shot for my book, she lives in London on a house boat, so I guess sometimes I dream about living here.

FI: Any ideal collaboration?

TS: I just wanna work with the best people, and the best brands and shoot spaces and not repeat myself and push myself in interesting ways and I have a few up my sleeves that you will be hearing about soonish, but not now.

You can buy The Selby’s latest book “The Selby Is In Your Place” on Amazon.com and be sure to visit his blog, The Selby for Todd’s latest projects.

The Selby, part time photographer and part time painter, recently teamed up with stylist Aya Kanai to create a zoo of animals rocking out some recognizable designer clothes. It’s funny to think that the Giles Pacman helmet could actually look cute on an emu. 

GALLERY: RANDOM COOL: Animals In Fashion

Check out The Selby’s Animals In Fashion here!

Erin Wasson

Alexander Wang

Brian Lichtenberg

Derrick Cruz

Swaim and Christina Hutson

As I sit here, staring at my failed attempt of an edgy college dorm transformation, I cannot help but imagine my future SoHo apartment or the decor of Vogue when I replace Anna Wintour. I’m planning on some enormous skylights, exposed brick walls, wood floors and an eclectic array of mix-matched furniture and art. For now, the grimy bathtub and excruciating fluorescent lighting will have to do, but who says a girl can’t plan ahead? I’ve started to gather inspiration from some of my favorite designers, models and writers, photographed by Todd Selby, in their homes and workspaces. Thanks to The Selby, who photographs “interesting people in creative spaces” I can live vicariously through others until I get my big break. Join me in my stalking by sifting through the galleries below:

GALLERIES:

Erin Wasson (Model)

Alexander Wang

Brian Lichtenberg

Derrick Cruz (Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons)

Swaim and Christina Hutson (Obedient Sons & Daughters) 

Visit The Selby here! 

The Selby recently teamed up with Obesity and Speed to produce a limited edition tee shirt. The shirt is pretty cool, but I’m not sure if I’d be willing to shell out $44 for it. If you are click here to get one!

Courtesy of: HPDC