Thom Solo Wants Lady Gaga in His Shoes

Thom Solo’s background in sculpture informs the extravagant and powerful shoes that he creates. The young Boston designer and School at the Museum of Fine Arts alum has always been a style fanatic: “Sculpture and fashion just came together with shoes,” he says. His second collection, Giger, is launching tonight (August 15) at an invite-only show at Bond.

(Courtesy photos / All prices upon request.)

The Giger collection is inspired by the Swiss artist H. R. Giger, particularly his visual effects work on the Alien movies. While Solo’s first line, Specimen, was extremely floral-driven, Giger is “a little more of me,” he says. “It’s darker and edgier.” Solo also looks to Alexander McQueen and other designers during his creative process, and says his exact inspirations are often hard to pin down.

Solo’s towering heels, made from leather, fiberglass, and pony hair, are for “the woman who wants to have a moment.” He describes shoes as “a stage where a woman wants to be seen,” from the moment she enters a room until her exit. He envisions a bold, alien-esque woman wearing the Giger collection. But, he adds, “I don’t close myself off to a certain type of woman. I was raised by women, and I value what all women can bring into the world.” The person he’d most like to see in his shoes? Lady Gaga. (Fantasies running wild, he also mentioned magazine editor Isabella Blow and fashion icon Daphne Guinness.)

Solestruck is set to sell Solo’s designs (First Specimen, then Giger.) And while his chic wares currently boast heel heights of eight inches, Solo will bring the shoes down to six inches when they are actually for sale — “to make them more wearable, and more humbled,” he explains.

Solo isn’t one to put his feet up; he’s currently working with some celebrity clients, and is already busying himself with his next collection, which will be very personal and draw upon memories from his childhood. “Designing is never just about a pretty accessory,” he says. “There’s always a concept that gets the imagination going.”