Paul Andrew is a well-known talent in New York fashion. He worked alongside Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, and Narciso Rodriguez here, as well as Alexander McQueen in London, before launching his namesake women’s footwear brand in New York in 2013. The winner of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2014, Andrew was named Design Director for women’s shoes at Salvatore Ferragamo, ascending to Women’s Creative Director the year after, and, eventually Creative Director of all Ferragamo product categories in 2019.

Pressing pause on his own label during that time, he relaunched it last year, after exiting Ferragamo the year prior.

Last year, he relaunched his namesake brand to much acclaim and, on September 11, will unveil his Season Four collection with a special presentation at Rockefeller Center.

We caught up with Paul in advance of the presentation.

What is the inspiration behind Season Four?

Form and function are key. This collection is about unique-looking shoes that effortlessly take you from day into evening, from the city to the beach.  New slim spike heels are edged with functioning metal zippers, a new signature for the brand, and the work of London-based artist glassblower, Jochen Holz, has inspired a new sculptural heel, handmade in sustainable plexiglass.

What can we look forward to?

There are several exciting things happening with the brand in this moment. This collection marks the return of Paul Andrew to NYFW after several years. When I became creative director of Ferragamo in 2019, I was obliged to pause my eponymous brand and move my life to Italy. I am now back in New York, fully embracing the energy of the city and look forward to showing you what I’ve been working on.

For fashion week we are taking over the plaza level at Rockefeller Center in collaboration with Jupiter Restaurant. The presentation promises to be an iconic Manhattan moment.

Can you give us a sneak peek of some key styles this season?

The BELTED sandal is one of my favorites as it truly embraces my love for combining craft and tech. The sole is hand-molded from flexible stacked-cuoio leather and inlayed with a padded nappa insole that feels like you are walking on a cushion. The metal heel is galvanized in chrome by an Italian sports-car factory and the vegetable-tanned strappy upper wraps around the ankle like a sleek belt.

The ZIPPY is another favorite due to its versatility. You can open the zips across the instep and ankle to create a sandal, or close them to create a bootie. The perfect fashion-forward transeasonal shoe.

The CLOG ZIP is handcrafted in butter-soft calfskin and mounted to a sustainably-sourced wooden sole. The wood is taken from a forest that fell during an intense storm in Northern Italy last year.

Since the relaunch, how has your business and collection evolved?

When I left Ferragamo in 2021 I had a year of garden leave. That time away from the industry, without the distraction of daily deadlines, was really great for me on many levels.

On a personal and professional level it gave me time to think and reflect. As you can imagine, when one is creative director of a multi-billion Euro fashion house, time is not something you have in abundance.

The experience with Ferragamo taught me so much, but one of the foremost learnings was the importance of freedom, and of having my own voice. The freedom of my own pace, and to that point my business targets will be based on my own ambitions. I can scale my company and go as fast or slowly as I choose. To that point, I have approached only a select few retailers with whom I want to carry the product for the relaunch. In this moment I am just much more focused on going back to creativity.

Paul Andrew shoes are now available in an important way with Neiman Marcus, Saks, MatchesFashion, Moda Operandi and The Conservatory in the US, as well as a selection of important luxury retailers in Europe, Middle East, and Asia.

What were some of the key lessons pre-relaunch that you incorporated?

In being the creative lead for an important Italian heritage brand, directing all women’s and men’s product categories, dreaming up the vision for campaigns, fashion shows and store concepts, whilst also growing that business, the past several years were a huge eye-opener and I learned so many key lessons in building a brand and making a company profitable. I am trying to harness those lessons and apply them in an intelligent manner to my own fledgling brand.

A few of my key takeaways are that less is better, iconicity in product is essential, the customer is always right, and staying true to yourself is the only way to be happy and successful.

What’s next for you?

We just photographed our new ad campaign with photographer Alessio Bolzoni, whom I met through a mutual friend, legendary filmmaker Luca Guadagnino. Luca made a short film for me in 2020 for Ferragamo which went on to win Best Costume and Best Art Direction at the Berlin Fashion Film Festival.

Alessio’s has a unique ability to capture an emotional complexity, sensuality, and beauty in his sumptuous visuals. He famously photographed Luca’s film posters for “Call Me By Your Name,” “Susperia,” and “We Are Who We Are.”

Our campaign stars supermodel Veronika Kunz. This is the first campaign where we give a face to the Paul Andrew woman and this feels like a really important step forward.

My woman is strong yet feminine and presents a sensibility of new eroticism. She wants to look and feel sexy yet sophisticated, sensual and in command. She likes to bare her skin, but not in a tacky way. She is simply confident in her body.

Watch out for Paul Andrew billboards all over NYC this September!