PinkPantheress

Bold, primary colors have always been a part of PinkPantheress's creative aesthetic. Recent album covers have shown PinkPantheress silhouetted against stark red and blue backdrops.

A collection of interchangeable charms. These are magnetized and replaceable on the top front of the shoe, allowing the wearer to customize the look of her flats. Along with her idea for swappable inserts, these charms can make the shoes suit whatever fit PinkPantheress is creating.

British iconography, tartans, and other clashing patterns form a through-line not just in PinkPantheress's work, but in the lineage of fashion designers from the U.K. After some research, though, she decided not to stay in one place but to try new patterns and colors: polka dots, stripes and a newly-designed crown pattern.

“For this project, I took inspiration from a lot of vintage styles and so I'm combining things that I grew up with and a bit more of a modern take.”

- PinkPantheress

Early-stage sketches show the progression of ideas for the ballet flats, paired with lace samples.

Pieces of leather were stitched as part of the fabrication process. PinkPantheress's shoes were designed with the help of shoe designers in the USA in collaboration with PinkPantheress's team, and constructed at a bespoke, community-led studio in her current hometown, Los Angeles.

Drawing from the aesthetics of underground scenes like UK garage, PinkPantheress has used the symbols and motifs of royalty in her music and design to subvert and play with traditional British iconography. For her flats, she added a pink crown stamp as a repeated element. The crown appears in patterns and on the insole and outsole.

PinkPantheress's shoe concept features a removable, changeable inner and a see-through outer shell. Featured here is the lace version of the insert.

PinkPantheress's career started in her bedroom, sharing loops with the world via social media. Her Los Angeles home is still a place of comfort and creativity, curated to bring a sense of calm to her creative process.

PinkPantheress wanted her flats to evolve with her style choices. On stage and off, she is always consciously building her look. Once she'd landed on the idea of custom inserts under a PVC layer, the team designed several patterns, including stripes, repeated metallic crowns and, in a nod to early-2000s styles, black and white polka dots.

“I think we are all very obsessed with personalization.”

- PinkPantheress

Charms and accessories were an early idea for how to make PinkPantheress's shoes customizable. Her team went through many rounds of exploration: bows, pearls, ribbons, crystals and hearts were all options.

One idea for the ballet flats involves a removable, customizable insert with a clear viewing window, allowing the style of the shoe to be changed on a whim. This idea ended up being part of the final design.

Once PinkPantheress decided to make her ballet flats customizable, ideas for different inserts came quickly, from polka dots to miniature crowns.

Though not ultimately selected, PinkPantheress initially explored using sequin material with her ballet flats.

Gemini in Chrome can synthesize web pages for easy understanding or sharing. PinkPantheress was able to summarize a mood board and quickly share inspiration with her team. This meant Gemini in Chrome could summarize the page, craft an email, and send it to the team, all without leaving the mood board.

PinkPantheress worked with shoemakers, researched and sourced with the help of Chrome, to create prototypes, or “pullovers” for her ballet flats.

PinkPantheress wear tests all of her flats, including her own design, to make sure they are comfortable to move around and perform in.

PinkPantheress compared her latest designs with inspiration from the web with the help of Chrome's Split View feature.