CINDERELLA

CREATIVE & FASHION DIRECTION: MARNE SCHWARTZ
PHOTOGRAPHY: VLADIMIR MARTI
HAIR: EDUARDO BRAVO
MAKEUP: IVA OSYPYSHYNA
DIGITAL ASSISTANT: EFRAIM EVIDOR
FASHION ASSISTANT: AMELIE KLEWE
MODEL: LUNA MINGMING / MLN MODEL MANAGEMENT
WORDS: ALISSA THOMAS

We all know the story. When, once upon a postmodern time, a resentful smock-and-sneaker wearer dreamed of a world beyond the beige. She imagined a life as a well-heeled sartorial princess from red carpet nobility. And at night she would pray to Saint Pierpaolo Piccioli of Valentino to change her life. She wished for oversized slouch boots covered in crystals, for bow-topped sandals in molten silver and for sculpted, black leather knee-highs straight from the runway. After all, she’d paid her dues, always listening to her mother when she told her only to invest in sensible podiatry. But now was the time to break from the mould, to risk it all for unicorn style both daring and delighting. The story then goes that as she drifted to sleep, she saw a flicker of light in the room.

Suddenly, a figure appeared – with a glowing aura and FedEx uniform – and it held out a magical parcel. The woman took it, signed and then, with a flash of a screen shot, the Fairy Delivery Godmother was gone. Inside the box were the most exquisite shoes she had ever seen. Pink leather platform boots so extraordinary she thought they only existed in fairytales and reality shows. Then there were Saint Laurent Cassie heels in fine crêpe satin, ripped denim calf boots from the house of Loewe and soft houndstooth pumps by Christian Dior. And as she placed each shoe along the dusty ground, she slipped her foot inside one of the platforms, noticing the word Valentino printed on its sole. From then she was transformed – quite literally she was 6 inches taller – but more importantly, figuratively, she was changed.

The story continues that not long after, a mysterious invitation arrived – to a ball on the Côte d’Azur. When she arrived, in her newfound couture, there were gasps and sighs and the click of a thousand lenses. Hadids and Jenners stopped in their tracks while Prince Timothée  of Chalamet fell instantly in love. Yet the woman felt exposed and overwhelmed, and she fled in a fluster leaving only a boot in her wake. Prince Timothée vowed to find its owner, and to share his life and spectacular wardrobe with her.

He scoured every private cabana in the Cannes area, until he finally found her at an Airbnb in jeans, a t-shirt and a pair of old high-tops without even a scent of irony. He begged her to join him at his royal premiere, promising a life of velvets, silks and zeitgeist footwear. She obliged, deciding this time to not fear the avant-garde for this was where she belonged. So off they tottered into the sunset, in love and matching boots… and lived happily ever after-party.

The moral of the story? To be transformed and to reinvent oneself is to feel alive. And one should never underestimate the power of a good shoe.

“CINDERELLA” IS PUBLISHED IN THE 12TH EDITION OF GRAZIA INTERNATIONAL. ORDER YOUR COPY HERE.