Since Marie-France Van Heel‘s husband, Andy Burnham, took office at Number 10 earlier this summer, she has become a new fashion plate to watch. Her looks have embraced British design from across the spectrum, ranging from Victoria Beckham to Hobbs. And she shows no sign of switching this up. As per her recent appearance too, Van Heel has a very real sense of fashion that most women apply to their wardrobes. It’s all about the mix.
On Saturday August 22, Van Heel joined her husband and daughter at Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool to see Everton take on Crystal Palace. She stepped away from any sporting colours to wear a soft blush-toned ensemble comprised of a Princess of Wales-coded pleated nude dress punctuated with a white three-quarter sleeved jacket. Her favourite large square-framed Gucci sunglasses also came along for the jaunt.
Lewis Storey
Andy Burnham and Marie-France Van Heel.
However, it’s her shoes that pulled focus. Despite being a classic summer espadrille, the detail on the front of the pair feel decidedly forward looking.
At the AW26 shows, 3D florals were a major footwear trend. Designers including Jonathan Anderson at Dior, Matthieu Blazy at Chanel and Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons at Prada all gave their version of a flower blooming from a variety of shoe shapes.
LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT
Chanel, Prada, Dior.
Van Heel’s shoes also offered up this design detail with dainty daisy-like florals decorating the front. The nude colour makes it more subtle than what we saw on the runway, and now hitting stores, but it’s there none the less.
Van Heel’s exact pair of shoes are available from Next and are placed in the sale for £26.
As summer slowly but surely turns to autumn, our desire to wear espadrilles might be waning but a pair such as this, which look to a major winter trend, might just be the shoe to see us through August.
Van Heel’s smart-casual example, pairing them with the pleated skirt and jacket, shows how to wear it for the office, but the easy-to-wear shoe should look just as good as a feminine touch to a pair of barrel jeans and a crisp white shirt. It’s another style move from Van Heel worth noting, and emulating.
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Naomi Pike is the commissioning editor at ELLE UK. Her expansive role moves between editing the front of book, covering runway fashion and cultural trends, writing cover stories and well features, as well as commissioning best-in-class contributors. An experienced host, Naomi regularly chairs ELLE’s panels and reader events as well as interviewing talent on camera. Naomi started her career at British Vogue and has since written through her freelance career for The Guardian, The CUT, American Vogue, The Daily Telegraph, Porter, and The Sunday Times STYLE. Follow her on Instagram at @naomialexandrapike