Partners: Tracey Neuls Design

Tracey Neuls has over the last 10 years established herself as a vital force in the contemporary design world, with a reputation for mould breaking and idiosyncratic shoe making. Since graduating from Cordwainers’, she has opened her synonymous shop, launched three sub-brands, initiated several fruitful collaborations, and won a string of awards (including New Generation, Design Week Benchmark, and Royal Society of Arts). Her footwear is now coveted by London’s most creative clientele, copied by the high street, and sold around the world.

Tracey Neuls is a designer’s designer. Like Eileen Gray, to whom she has been compared, she eschews mainstream fads, opting for a more timeless, holistic approach. This can be witnessed in the sculptural wholeness of her shoes, but also in the details – maps imprinted into soles, the upper pulled down over the heel. Her creative process integrates surfaces and materials collected magpie-like with traditional cobblers methods. The products are high spec, and they have earned her real ‘Slow Fashion’ credibility.

TN_29 came to be in the year 2000 and was immediately snapped up by a confident and design savvy consumer base. The range is fabricated by specialists in Italy, and has its own defined look, inspired by often-overlooked everyday muses, lending humour and unusual detail. TN_29 now has an international reputation, and is adored for its vivacious attitude, and long lasting appeal. Signature Tracey Neuls was introduced in 2007, bringing with it a tide of unforeseen beauty, finish and individuality. Hand-sculpted by Tracey, then hand-made in Italy, these are artisan products of distinctive craftsmanship. Most recently, Homage, launched 2009, signals at once a shift in material, a youthful offshoot and a wink to past design successes. These are replicas of TN_29 favourites, but this time in rubber, and in Technicolor! Wonderful surface texture has been teased out of this new material - during moulding, cuttings from vintage fabrics, lace, and various textiles have been introduced, resulting in visible folds, tears and irregularities - each shoe is unique.

A walk down Marylebone Lane (itself a hidden gem embedded in London’s West End, just above Oxford Street) will take you past the sausage shop and the Monocle headquarters, to number 29, Tracey Neuls Footwear. Born on 29th June 2005, this is no ordinary shoe shop – it is here you can see how Tracey’s vision extends beyond the shoe. The display is fresh and engaging, with pieces hung from the ceiling, propped on vintage stools, piled and clustered – they are to be experienced dynamically. Should you wish to take a pair home, adhesive handles render your shoebox portable.

The shop’s interior has been short-listed for the D&AD Branded Environment Award, and has been transformed several times for collaborations with artists such as Boo Ritson, Nina Saunders, and most recently Nicola Yeoman. Recent temporary projects include the retrospective and pop up shop Shop&Show at the Brompton Space during LFW, an exhibition appearance at The Wapping Project, and an installation at Clerkenwell Design Week 2010. Watch this Space!