Delft, 16 October 2012 – Jan Jansen today presents his Spring/Summer collection 2013 at his shop on Rokin in Amsterdam. The absolute showstopper is the ‘Orchid Shoe by Jan Jansen’. This shoe is inspired totally by orchids and has been created in cooperation with Art of Life, comprising 40 pot orchid growers. The orchid can be seen clearly as the source of inspiration not only in the design of the shoe but also in its choice of material. The limited edition shoe will be available from February 2013.

Colours
The ‘Orchid Shoe by Jan Jansen’ is a striking, elegant shoe that will come to the market in a variety of colours: fuchsia, red, terracotta, purple and cognac. These colours are based on existing orchid tints and are present in several genera of orchid, such as Phalaenopsis, Vanda, Oncidium and Dendrobium.

Sources of inspiration
The orchid as a source of inspiration can be seen in all the facets of the shoe. The shoe is luxuriant, showing the feminine side of the orchid by using an explosion of orchid flowers. These embrace, as it were, the foot of the shoe wearer. The soft characteristics of the plant can also be seen in the design, because the orchid’s velvety flowers inspired the use of suede. The straps show the strength of the orchid and refer to its sturdy roots. The extremely high heel is a reference to the elegant, feminine nature of ‘the Queen of Plants’.

Jan Jansen says about his design, ‘The orchid has always fascinated me, and when I heard that there is a genus of orchid called the Venus Slipper it seemed to me a wonderful idea to design a shoe inspired by that elegant plant. There are so many species and varieties of orchid, and each species has its own individually shaped flower, colours and unique markings. In the past few months I have surrounded myself with as many different orchids as possible in order to design this unique shoe. I think that in the Orchid Shoe I have managed to create a wearable work of art.’

The ‘Orchid Shoe by Jan Jansen’ is to be brought to the market as a limited edition and can be purchased online and at Jan Jansen’s shops in Amsterdam and Maastricht. The recommended retail price of the shoe is 495 euro.

About Jan Jansen
Full of character. Self-willed and distinctive. Ahead of his time yet timeless. This is the essence of Jan Jansen. His exceptional designs, based on a knowledge of traditional shoemaking and created with passion, are a source of inspiration. Jan Jansen has been designing unique footwear since the early 1960s. His designs are often ahead of their time and yet timeless, each one based on the correlation between last, sole and heel. After training at the renowned studios of Follie, D’Alco and Albanese in Rome, he started to develop his own collection, going on to work at various times for fashion houses such as Dior and Charles Jourdan. Every season, Jan and his team present a sparkling new collection. Jan Jansen’s shoes were even shown last July at the fashion show of Marga Weimans on the opening night of the Amsterdam Fashion Week.
Jan Jansen is one of the Netherlands’ best known footwear designers and has his own shops in Amsterdam, Heusden-Vesting, Nijmegen and Maastricht. His shoes are also sold in many outlets in the Netherlands and elsewhere. Visit www.janjansen.com for more information about Jan Jansen and his work.