Hangover Observations: Florsheim by Duckie Brown Brings Fans Flocking to Confederacy

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It's been a good week for shoe parties, with last night taking us to Confederacy to celebrate Florsheim by Duckie Brown's debut. Unlike a lot of fashion bashes, the shoes themselves managed to overshadow even the martini bar, holding the attention of a crowd that was equal parts trendy and traditional. Each basic style comes straight from Florsheim's archive, but Duckie Brown designers Steven Cox and Daniel Silver have, as they put it, "turned up the music". To wit, a lace-up ankle boot from the Spring 2010 collection is covered in intricate brogueing, a saddle shoe from Fall 2009 is rendered in lush caramel and chocolate tones, while every pair has a signature red tongue, which Silver explains is because "shoes are in the Florsheim brothers' blood".

But for us, at least, the biggest surprise was each pair's relatively paltry price tag, with suede loafers ringing in at under $200 and boots for less than $500. "So many collaborations are unreasonably expensive," explains Silver. "We wanted to make something beautiful, yet affordable enough for a Florsheim fan in the Midwest to buy it." As for the unconventional decision to launch in LA, the New-York based Silver explained it was simply "because we love to do what's not expected of us." As noted before, the line will be exclusive to Confederacy until August, after which Dads across the nation will (hopefully) start recognizing the virtues of studding and burgandy suede.
· Florsheim by Duckie Brown to Land at Confederacy [Racked]
· Duckie Brown [Official Site]
· Florsheim [Official Site]