5 questions with ECCO’s Niki Taestensen

SINGAPORE — Beauty is no longer pain, especially if you love a pair of deliciously gorgeous shoes but literally can’t stand walking in them for the entire day.

Unless you step into a pair from ECCO’s new Spring/Summer Dress Comfort collection, which marries style and comfort, according to Niki Taestensen, the lead designer of the brand’s women’s collection.

The Scandinavian, who has “an awful lot of shoes, sees an awful lot of shoes and (has) a very special relationship with shoes”, was barely 16 when he pursued the family tradition to become a shoemaker.

And an inventor of words, too. Taestensen has a new term for modern fast-paced women who aren’t inclined to sacrifice style and comfort at the other’s expense: Comfortistas.

“Comfortistas are self-confident women who want shoes that are all-in-one. Shoes you can be comfortable walking around in but, at the same time, be emotionally comfortable in because you feel that you still look good,” he explained.

Does he test how comfortable these women’s shoes are? “Yes! But obviously for me, I like flats more. I’m not too good with heels,” he quipped.

Q: As a women’s footwear designer, what are your thoughts on fashion insiders saying that flats are in this season?

A: I think it’s a great thing because flats are cute and comfortable. The good thing about flats is that you can dress them up or dress them down, you could be young or you could be old. Flats are a very timeless product.

Q: Have you had any female friends complaining about her heels being too uncomfortable?

A: You don’t need to know many women to hear that! That’s what most women complain about and that’s what we try to change. We work a lot with the comfort features without losing style. You can actually be very comfortable in heels — but of course, you’d have to try it to believe it.

Q: Can you tell us more about the Dress Comfort collection?

A: We reinvented our standards and worked with different materials, without losing all the comfort features of our more typical casual shoes. We’ve been doing a lot of high heels in this range, with extensive research on how to make heels comfortable while keeping the same feminine flair. Comfort is very important to us. We have both people and machines testing how comfortable our shoes are.

Q: What inspired this collection?

A: All kinds of things. We worked with three main trends. Classical Beat is very inspired by the 1950s; Eye Candy is a colourful trend with lots of colour pop to show happiness; and my personal favourite, Expose, draws inspiration from the ’20s and mixes it with futuristic new stuff. Expose is basically what we want to achieve: Classical silhouettes which are timeless and stylish.

Q: Do you think a pair of good shoes make an outfit perfect?

A: Very much! I think it’s very much about accessories. If you wear your clothes relatively classic and simple, the right shoes can really be the difference between an outfit being outstanding and being normal. CHRISTIE YEO

ECCO’s Dress Comfort 2014 collection is retailing from S$199.90 for a pair of leather ballet flats to S$219.90 for a pair of studded leather sandals.