.: Jan Jansen :.

Jan Jansen - who wouldn’t want to be in his shoes?

Born in 1941 in Nijmegen, Netherlands, Jan designed and made his first pair of women’s boots for Tonny Polman at the tender age of 18, followed by a pair for himself a couple of years later.

From these humble beginnings followed a career in shoe design that now spans more than 40 years in the limelight of the fashion industry - setting trends and keeping abreast with new movements every step of the way. Jan Jansen, the designer, embraced the sheer joy of experimentalism and the breaking down of barriers so prevalent during the 60’s and 70’s, decades that were free and wild in any sense of the word.

He started his business of one-off shoes in 1963 and has been selling under his own name since 1964. Featuring regularly in Dutch fashion journals from as early as 1965, international acclaim followed swiftly through coverage in the French fashion magazines and an exhibition in the Museum of Contemporary Craft in New York called ‘Bodycovering’ in 1968. You may remember, if you’re old enough, the ‘Woody Clog’, his 1969 design of a clog where the leather is fastened to the wooden sole by nails. His high-healed ‘Sneaker’ of the late 70's sold 1 million pairs in the USA alone. Sensing a changing mood in the final decade of the last century, he developed the ‘Linea Erotica’ in the 1990’s - shoes with a more sensual appeal that paired well with the ‘lingerie look’ fashionable at the time.

Jan’s creations combine elements of architecture and sculpture, while simultaneously providing ergonomic quality that guarantees comfort. He has introduced a new aesthetic in shoe design and has often been pioneering in shoe-development. His asymmetrical draped ladies’ sandals are a good example: the heel is longer than it is wide and a multifunctional fastening allows a variety of appearances. In 1996 he received the Dutch fashion prize and was bestowed the title “Grand Seigneur” for his contribution to the national and international fashion scene. A Jan Jansen shoe is not your everyday footwear, it is a creation of artistic merit. His creations feature as museum exhibits around the world.