An Evening with Nicholas Kirkwood

A couple of months ago, a little bird told me that Nicholas Kirkwood was coming to town to launch both his F/W 2010 and his Keith Harring- inspired collections. I've been foaming at the mouth since then, and after what seemed like a very long wait, I finally met Mr. Kirkwood last Thursday at a party thrown in his honour at OnPedder.

Referred to by ones in the know as just 'Kirkwoods', his shoes are the hottest fashion accessory, worn by famous celebrities and women with cash to throw. The Keith Harring collection is just one of the many collaborations under his belt alongside Erdem, Liberty and Rodarte. Kirkwood is known for his avant- garde shoe designs, especially the sexy sky- high architectural heels. They are unique and a breath of fresh air amongst the Louboutins, Manolos and Choos, which can seem quite Deperate Housewife-ish at times. Come 7th of December, Nicholas will go head to head against Camilla Skovgaard and Emma Hill (Mulberry) for Best Accessories Design in the upcoming British Fashion Awards. I'm quite certain that Nicholas will take the award home.

As to be expected, there were cocktails and champagne. OnPedder really knows how to throw a party. The bite-sized food they had on offer was delish! The visuals, as always- especially the Kirkwood installation- was stunning! Great creative talents under this roof, definitely.

We watched as Nicholas quietly entered the room. He seemed quite shy at first but once you start talking to him he actually is a very friendly, quite relaxed and very down to earth sort of guy. People were just dying to speak to him. I tried very hard not to act like a crazed fan. I wanted to pick his brains about a lot of things but as I mentioned, there were throngs of people waiting to speak/touch/have their photos taken with him. My friend and I spoke to Kirkwood for as long as we could, occassionally being interrupted by the in house photographer and other people. I was so nervous I kept gulping my champagne. In the end I was grabbing the waiter by his collar, demanding a refill! 

So here is how the conversation with Nicholas went:

Me: Hey Nicholas, welcome back to Hong Kong! Are you finding it too hot just now? 

NK: I'm not finding it too bad as I'm being ferried from one air-conditioned place to another...but it is definitely hotter than London!

Me: So where did the OnPedder team take you last night?

NK: I was taken to Dragon-i and some bar afterwards. Can't remember the name.

Me: How long are you here for?

NK: I'm here till Saturday!
Me: Not bad, innit...

NK: No, not bad at all. This is my 3rd outing to HK. I do quite like it here.

Me: Hmmm, yes. It's not too bad.

NK: No, it's not.

Me: Adding flat shoes to the Fall/Winter collection is a quite a nice surprise...

*click, click*  *flash, flash*

NK: Er, where were we.... ah yes, the flat shoes are nice and surprised a lot of people. Hellooo?!

Me: Oh sorry, was just stuffing my face with smoked duck breast.

My friend, A: Yeah I really like the gold metallic brogues.

NK: What's your shoe size?

My friend, A: 43!

NK: *ponders for a few seconds*

My friend, A: *waiting and full of hope*

*more clicks and flashes*

NK: Hmmm, am afraid I don't do them in that size.

Me to A: Well done for having massive feet!

NK: *laughs*

Me: I am a big fan!

NK: *looks down at my feet* I see you have YSLs on.

Me: Er, yeah. Don't you just love them?!

*cue waiter with mini cones of ice cream*

Me and my friend, A: Hmmm these are delicious! You want some Nicholas? 

NK: No thank you.

Me to Nicholas: You're not drinking?!

NK: Maybe later, luv. I can tell you two have been drinking a lot though! *laughs*

Me and my friend, A: Us?! Naaaaaah....

*a guy forced his way through to us and introduced some floozy to Kirkwood*

Guy: Hey Nicholas, sorry, but I just wanted to introduce you to blah blah blah.

Me: *giving the guy evils*

NK: *shrugs his shoulders and looks at us*

Me: Well it's been lovely talking to you! Enjoy the rest of your stay and avoid assholes like that guy in front of you!

NK: Will do!

My friend and I partied on as there was still champagne to be drunk. It was fun meeting and talking to Nicholas. It was also fun bumping into the usual crowd as this made me look as if I knew everyone! After a while both my friend and I had to sit down as we were wobbling all over the place. There was a group of British and European housewives all in their blow-dried and Deperate Housewife-ish glory, giving us disapproving looks. Fuck you and your Birkins, I muttered under my breath. Although one of them, who had a Kristen McMenamy look going on, gave me a smile.

We went outside for a breath of fresh air only to find that it had been raining heavily. We bumped into more people and drank the last drops of champagne in our flutes. Having had enough to drink, we decided that it was time to go home and went back in to say bye to some friends, giving the housewives and their Hermes a wide berth. They may have felt like a million dollars that evening but what I had safely stowed away in my Stella McCartney clutch was my invite to the party that Nicholas had signed. Now, that to me is priceless.