To Brighten My Mood

Continuing to comb through e-mails I am thrilled to learn that Due Farina, one of my fave shoe companies, has launched a new diffusion line, called Le due, just in time for summer. While the parent brand is all about luxe Italian materials and sexy after-dark drama (like my cheetah print snake skin pumps), Le due is geared toward a funkier girl-about-town, with lots of fun, quirky platforms and wedges. There are even a few flats thrown into the mix, and all at prices that won’t break the bank. New York-based designer Marina Rosin (such a sweety!) and her Italian-based design partner, Fabiana Rigamonti, decided to jump into the diffusion-level fray with three dozen fashion-forward spring 2007 styles that use less expensive materials than their signature collection and are made in Brazil, where manufacturing is less costly (Due Farina, which they've put on hold until the Resort 2008 season, will continue to be produced in Italy using higher-end materials and will retail from $450). “Due Farina is our more sleek, fashionable point of view, and it’s for a slightly older, more sophisticated customer,” Rosin told The Fashion Informer. “Le due is a more funky look, with a lot of bottom interest - patent platforms, wicker wedges, thick stacked wood heels. Our original collection is more chic and glamorous, and Le due is a bit more rustic and earthy.” Le due found a lot of support from buyers from stores such as Nordstrom and Anthropologie, who placed huge orders when the line was unveiled at last year’s WSA trade show in Las Vegas. For fall, Rosin and Rigamonti have continued to refine Le due, with sumptuous purple suede slingbacks, cap-toe paisley pumps, woven leather knee-high boots, and topstitched, snap-buckle maryjanes with a chunky cone heel. You can buy them at Tani, and Nadine and David in Manhattan.I'm super excited for them and I can't wait till it's on sale in the showroom!