Exclusive: Heutchy For Richard Chai Footwear

If you peeped Richard Chai's spring '11 menswear or LOVE collections during New York Fashion Week, you would have noticed the conspicuous absence of heels. Instead, spotted under his perfect layering pieces for gals—silk trenches, flared jeans, and full skirts—were the cutest oxfords we've seen in a while. The shoes, with a one-inch wooden wedge, emitted flashes of metallic silver, copper, and ebony Napa leather that punched up the spare color-ways of the garments and turned the lace-ups into instant must-haves on many an editor's wish-list. At the menswear show, Chai induced the same shoe-envy—his printed pieces in neutral hues found a perfect compliment in canvas boots, sneakers, and sandals in hunter green, Prussian blue, and reflective grays. A collaboration with built-to-last NYC shoe-line Heutchy, the "Heutchy For Richard Chai" shoes mark Chai's first real foray into footwear (we're not counting the team-up with Keds), and Heutchy's premiere stab at pieces for women. If the oxfords are any indication of what's to come, we're praying that heels get the Chai-treatment next—sore feet be damned!