A street-style star turned shoe designer, Ada Kokosar is the Creative Director and Founder of Midnight 00. She steps out with SUITCASE in her infamous PVC-tulle polka-dot shoes.
18 August, 2020
Fashion
polymath Ada Kokosar first launched her luxury footwear
brand, Midnight 00, as a collaboration with Italian footwear
brand Cesare Paciotti, for its autumn ’18 collection. Despite her
initial reservations – namely a lack of design experience – the
stylist/consultant, and now Creative Director of Midnight 00,
conceded and set about creating a line of shoes that would feel
entirely unique.
Steering away from Paciotti’s typically controversial and
unconventional campaigns in favour of something new, the path to
this new-fashioned future was by way of both the past and the
imagined past. “Cinderella’s glass slipper and the opulence of
Marie Antoinette’s style” were key contributors to Midnight 00’s
now trademark whimsical designs. Visions of PVC and silk, they are
indeed befitting of a modern-age heroine.
Midnight 00 by Ada Kokosar
Ada Kokosar
Milan
Footwear
I grew up in the countryside near Milan, surrounded by nature
and horses. It gave me a lot of freedom.
My grandmother getting dressed. She was always wearing couture
or fancy garments, even just to stay at home. I remember her
sipping coffee on her patio wearing printed robes with huge diva
shades and jewellery. I was so fascinated by her.
It comes from childhood fantasy tales such as One Thousand and
One Nights and Cinderella.
I have a studio at home. One of the walls is painted in magenta,
the exact same colour as the table below it – a beautiful piece by
Umberto Mascagni. In the middle of the room stands a spectacular
chair by artist Carla Tolomeo; it’s the shape of a big palm and
made from velvet and embroidery. There’s also a 19th-century glass
expositor where I display all my shoes.
It depends on which mood I want to be in or bring out. Lately,
I’m listening to Mina Mazzini since it was her 80th birthday
recently.
I’ve been a fashion consultant for years, working closely with
the design team [at Paciotti]. Three years ago, I was asked to
revamp the Paciotti shoe line. I declined the offer many times as I
had never designed shoes before, but since they kept insisting, I
decided that I needed to trust in myself.
Paciotti was very famous for its unconventional campaigns. When
they hired me, I thought the key to success was not in another
controversial campaign, but in the designing of shoes that were
unique to the market – shoes that haven’t been seen before. In
order to design something new and distinctive, I referenced the
most iconic shoe in history: Cinderella’s lost glass slipper.
That’s how I came out with the pump wrapped in silk and PVC.
New
York is the city of possibility and opportunity. If you have a
voice, that’s the place it will be heard the most.
A romantic woman who loves fantasy and to feel elegantly
sensual.
Princess Diana.
I’m emotionally attached to the Shell pump for its unicity. I
still vividly remember the feeling I had when I made the prototype.
I also love the mule that ended up being included in the MET
costume exhibition Camp: Notes on Fashion, as well as the very
first prototype I made: the Cinderella slipper.
We’re talking about 20 years worth of fashion! The question
should be: “what’s not in your closet?”
The sense of responsibility towards your team, costumers, the
buyers and the manufacturer.
It played a crucial role. Rising from 1,000 followers to 10,000
on the @midnight00 account in a couple of days was all
thanks to a single post that went viral. The post was a cropped
picture of me wearing the shell shoes in polka-dot tulle. When
fantasy blossoms…
Always.
India,
Peru and the Amazon rainforest.
Home, because I have everything I need. It’s my sweet
shelter.
News about the coronavirus to stay informed and shape my opinion
on how to respond to the imminent change we will go through.
Deepak Chopra’s Infinite Potential and the Making Sense Podcast
with Sam Harris.
In nature as it reaches full blossom.
Sustainability. I’m working to pull together a collection of
shoes made with materials that have a low impact on the
environment.