Innovative Japanese shoe designer Kisa Takada (1941-2006) created a world of shoe fantasies for 41 years.

Takada was born in Tokyo and studied graphic design at Tama Art University. In 1966, she held her first exhibition, Shoe Fantasy, at a Ginza art gallery. It marked the start of her brand KISSA. During the seventies, Takada introduced a continuous series of innovative shoes that became big hits and were widely covered by Japanese media.

Takada is generally considered as a pioneering shoe designer in Japan who expanded the concept of shoe design. The combination of functional beauty and playfulness in her designs have lived on after her death.

Among many others, this show introduces her imaginative pumps, the uniquely designed colorful boots she created for Kansai Yamamoto’s Kansai in London in 1971 (pictured above), the platform Pokkori sandals popular during the 1970s, rider boots for cycling during the summer, beach sandals, and masculine shoes based on Takada’s recollections of polishing her father’s shoes as a child.

1 Beach ballerina (1994)
2 Pokkuri platform sandals with designs of the moon and stars (1970)
3 Created for Kansai Yamamoto’s Show Kansai in London (1971)
4 Rider boots for Summer (1985)
5 Flower sandals (1974)
6 Created for the poster of Diana Shoe Store (1973)
7 Rubber shoes with poppy flower (1987)
8 Monk strap frilled tassel shoes (1972)
9 Dreaming little girl rubber soled boots (2002)