One of Chili Palmer’s earliest memories is tottering around in her mum’s original ’70s silver platforms – a gateway shoe to a lifelong love of height and drama. In her teens, she moved on to Vivienne Westwood’s notorious nine-inch purple croc platforms (the same pair Naomi Campbell famously tumbled in during Westwood’s 1993 runway show). Later, she graduated from Asutoria – Milan’s renowned shoe- and bag-making school, where her father (himself a second-generation shoemaker) also studied. This year, Palmer channelled all those experiences into the launch of Lili Curia, a shoe brand already developing a reputation for its gothic, romantic designs.
Lili Curia is based on Palmer’s alter ego: a cocktail of personalities, aesthetics and moods. “I wanted a bit of distance from an eponymous label, and a way for people to connect with the creativity and the theatrical nature behind the brand,” Palmer says. “It’s a fictional alter ego that allows people to step into another world or another self through their wardrobe.”
Lili Curia fuses bygone styles with modern twists for a sensibility that could have been drawn directly from the costume department of Interview With the Vampire. Take the signature Lilith Tall Boot, whose Victorian influences are offset by a sculptural inverted kitten heel. “There’s a sort of witchy femininity, an offbeat romanticism,” Palmer says.
Palmer is based between Florence and London, and her designs reflect her love of finding beauty in the distressed, from fragments of furniture to old photographs and timeworn table settings. “I think of myself as a collector,” she says. “I’m drawn to all kinds of curiosities.” But it’s London’s creatives who fascinate her most – and who she keeps in mind when designing. Her first campaign, launched in September, starred London-born painter Tali Lennox.
“I think it fits into the artistic, offbeat, slightly gothic side of London from a creative perspective,” she says of Lili Curia’s underground, yet distinctly British feel.
Palmer works with a group of artisans to produce Lili Curia’s high-quality footwear, sourcing leathers from responsibly audited tanneries and building each style in small batches. The brand also uses dead stock and recycled fabrics, including a rose-and-thorn jacquard that appears in its new Festive capsule.
Both the Festive and Heavy Winter capsules – including ballet sneakers and corset-inspired boots – will be showcased at a pop-up in Mayfair until December 8. The space’s slightly surreal design draws in draped toiles, stage curtains and antique curios alongside the label’s distinctive footwear.
For a brand so early in its journey, Lili Curia has somehow already cultivated a coven of loyalists: Keira Knightley, Suki Waterhouse and Princess Julia among them. “Seeing people perform in the shoes has been the most special for me,” Palmer says, recalling Princess Julia wearing her boots during a DJ set at the Tilda Swinton: Ongoing exhibition in Amsterdam.
“It’s surreal and affirming to see the shoes find their own audience. It definitely motivates us to keep building with integrity.”
Lili Curia pops up at 14A Hay Hill, W1J 8NZ until December 8.
