Since founding her London-based label Red By Wolves two years ago, designer Lena Lipp has been creating handmade shoes following the highest craftsmanship principles and injecting in her men and women’s footwear all her passion for style.

Lipp studied fashion design at London’s Istituto Marangoni where she specialised in menswear and accessories. A course at Cordwainers and a vital training period under a bespoke shoemaker marked a turning point in her career and the decision to focus on footwear. Naming her company after a word play between the phrase “raised by wolves” and the colour red that characterised the heel of King Louis XIV of France, Lipp has so far designed modern shoes with sharp and well-defined silhouettes, using the softest and best leathers. History merged with modern designs in some of her styles, and, in her latest collection, Lipp has experimented further taking inspiration from the world of art and using different materials such as snakeskin to create new designs with a special focus on details.   

Dazed Digital: Is there a theme behind your new collection?
Lena Lipp: The theme of the collection was metamorphosis. The shoes are gradually growing into something different, the brown men’s shoe for example grows a triangle shaped shell up the ankle, while in the women’s collection the delicate snakeskin is breaking out of the robust calf hide revealing the “Body” underneath. The fold-over boot can be worn fold down or straight, 2 different styles in itself. The shapes and colours are inspired by Russian Constructivist paintings. I introduced new materials working with snake and decorative “gimping” (the holes and the zigzag). For the samples I did actually punch every hole myself by hand. In the previous collections the shoes were quite simple and all about the style, with this collection I tried to bring the shoes a step further, keeping the style but working more on details. It’s my favourite collection so far and I definitely want to keep working with new materials and textures.

DD: Is there one pair of shoes from the new collection that you particularly like for their design, colour or material?
LL: I don’t think I can choose just one pair: I love the “Catherine”, a snake and calf platform bootie with two thin ankle straps, and the “Kiehley” with the burgundy snakeskin heel, because they make you feel incredibly sexy and well dressed, but also the “Amber”, a fold-over boot which looks great whatever way you wear it. I also love the new men’s styles.

DD: Is there a material you would like to experiment with one day?
LL: I started working with fish skin and I’m experimenting a lot with textures at the moment

DD: What kind of woman/man did you have in mind when you designed your latest collection?  
LL: I didn’t have any particular person in mind. The woman is kind of a mixture of Patti Smith style meets Jane Birkin meets Uschi Obermeier. The man would be a mixture of a young Robert Mapplethorpe meets the boys from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

DD: Who is your favourite fashion/shoe designer?
LL: I really like what newcomer Mark Fast did in his S/S 09 collection.

DD: Would you like to develop an accessory line one day?
LL: If I would expand the label into different areas, accessories would be a great option, but I haven’t got any concrete plans at the moment. I’ve also just started designing some T-Shirts and small leather accessories for Hackney post-punk band Black Poets (www.myspace.com/blackpoetsuk) who are definitely one of the best new bands in the UK.

DD: Future plans for 2009?
LL: I’m currently developing an economical handmade shoe, just one style, which will come in a lot of colour variations - and some of them also in limited editions - and will retail for less than £99. I developed them because I had so many people wanting a pair of Red By Wolves, but they couldn’t really afford them. With this one model everyone has access to Red By Wolves shoes without having to beg, steal or borrow. It’s something I have never had a chance to offer before so I am really excited about it. I am also working on a collection for an exclusive store, but I can’t reveal further details about it right now.