Gold, cherry, yellow, orange, sand, peach, sky blue, plum, burgundy, magenta… Shoe designer Minna Parikka’s shoes are like candies.

And that’s exactly what her clients desire, too – as well as frivolous and super feminine heels. Her collection for spring and summer 2008 also consists of some reasonable, low heels, but they haven’t been very successful among her clients. Wearers of Minna Parikka shoes want to show and to be seen – and they seem to think that shoes don’t have to have anything to do with practicality.

Minna Parikka has left bags out of her collection and is now emphasizing on the shoes. It seems that the year 2008 will be as busy as the two previous ones. The collection, established in 2005, keeps the 27-year-old designer on the road – in Spain, Milan, Las Vegas, Paris…

An ode to femininity – with a twinkle in one’s eye

Minna Parikka’s shoe collection is feminine and vintage-spirited. The designer seems just like her collection – and vice versa.

”I have long been interested in the femininity of the 1930’s, 1940’s and 1950’s, strong silhouettes and use of colour. Masculine, but ever so feminine forms of the 1930’s, humour, girlish style and happiness of the 1950’s, feeling of luxury…” lists the designer.

” Contrary to today, women have really enjoyed dressing up and being feminine in the past decades” says Parikka. “Everything was tailored in the past and all the pieces of an outfit were carefully considered.”

“It’s so easy to get clothes today and people are not willing to think of a garment or shoes all the time. It’s more important to get easily from one place to another.”

“And” she adds “women of today have a completely different task than 50 or 70 years ago.”

Evolution of Style

Minna Parikka admits that she has tried all the styles and hair trends of each year in the past. Due to style experimentations, the style of the future shoe designer was changed twice a year. “Now my style has calmed down and I’m perhaps a bit stuck with my current style. Still, my own style is evolving all the time.”

Despite her influences, Parikka admits that she also likes current designers, Moschino and Sonia Rykiel rated to the top of her list of favourites.

She denies – again despite her influences – being a teddy girl. “I have never been into teddy circles. I like the culture but I’m not into the music and such things. Visuality of the culture is really beautiful.”

Novelty to the collection

Minna Parikka shared a work room with fashion designer Tiia Vanhatapio and accessories designer Kirsi Nisonen for a long time. The three designers are connected to each other by pin-up culture, burlesque and vintage.

Parikka found herself needing a space and peace of her own and she got herself a small office. “I need a space of my own to think; a space where I can only see my own ideas and products. A designer always has a vision and when several designers work for their collections in the same room, the labels might in a way get mixed.”

On the other hand; when a designer is working alone in an office, he or she is continuously surrounded by his or her visions and visual objects. Does one ever get bored to the own collection?

“When I have sat four days at a fair staring at my shoes, some feelings of disgust might well come up. If this happens, I will just have to put the collection off my eyes for a while, so that I can find novelty in it again” she says.

“I haven’t worked for the collection for a long time when the models arrive to shops. Then it’s easy to find novelty again and start using pieces of the collection.”

Dreaming of an accessories collection

Parikka is currently concentrating designing shoes and she has left bags out of the collection. “Bags were originally designed to support the shoes in the collection. Many buyers found the bags a bit difficult, because the collection wasn’t complete from the buyer’s point of view.”

Right now the designer wants to concentrate on the shoe business. For now, she takes care of designing, production management, marketing and sales all by herself – and she sure has many fairs and sales trips ahead of her. Today, Minna Parikka’s shoes are sold in ten countries.

”I would love to expand the collection to accessories: bags, purses, gloves, umbrellas, parasols…” she says, dreamily. “I am also planning to have a Minna Parikka shop in Helsinki – let’s hope that it will come true this year!"