Kermit Tesoro

Filipino fashion prodigy Kermit Tesoro has made his avant-garde shoes available for online purchase. The designer, whose footwear made it to the Lady Gaga + Gilt sale a few weeks ago, now accepts orders of his sky high kicks through his website kermittesoro.com.

Kermit Tesoro shoes for Lady Gaga + Gilt. Gaga loves Kermit alright.

If I'm not mistaken, Divine Lee, who has been rocking Kermit's creations for some time now, helped make the online store happen. She has been after all wearing them a lot from the last PFW--which is when I got to see her in the flesh in those spiky, heelless 'Kermits'--to her  Mega cover.

You know the fashion queens are all scrambling to get a pair. Some of them may in fact already have placed their orders. Although the ordering process is a tad complicated, I think this is such a great leap for Philippine fashion. Kermit's shoes are customized upon finalizing the orders after all. I hope more designers follow suit. It's about time we get on with the program. Teh interwebs is the gateway to globalization!

I was lucky enough to have sat in one of Kermit's shows during Philippine Fashion Week Spring-Summer 2011 and even then I thought he was really good. His work is very reminiscent of McQueen and sometimes Gareth Pugh but I don't think anyone else in the local industry is doing what he does.

Slighty Gareth Pugh-esque, don't you think?

I do hope that he gets sufficient funding. Sometimes, it's hard for an artist to have his fantastic ideas translate to actual pieces with the same if not more beauty because of funding constraints. This is probably why one or two of Kermit's shoes look like they can do better in terms of hardware and stitching. But I have faith. One day at a time perhaps.

Photos: Missosology, Nicola Formichetti's Blog

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