Going Gaga

It has been three years since Kermit Tesoro first introduced his heel-less shoes in stylebible.ph. This feature garnered him a spot on the cover of Meg magazine in October, 2009, which gave him the confidence and inspiration to present his Holiday 2010 collection. He showcased his nude, ribbed, heel-less shoes and skull heels, which both received great reviews from the fashion denizens.

But it wasn’t just the stylish locals that took notice of Tesoro’s works. Nicola Formichetti, the creative director of Thierry Mugler and Lady Gaga’s personal fashion director, and her team, got in touch with him: “The styling team primarily asked for a pair of skull heels and escalated by asking me to send my pieces from my Holiday 2010 collection. They saw my collection online, and they contacted if I’m the real Kermit Tesoro as the designer of the skull heels.”


“The second time, they asked me to send pieces for the MTV video music awards, but the package got held up by the customs,” adds Tesoro.  Although both attempts were unsuccessful, Tesoro didn’t lose hope as he sent another pair of shoes and a suit to the styling team: “It was mainly for the album cover shoot but I’m utterly clueless what happened.”

Then, he chanced upon the Lady Gaga x Gilt Groupe charity sale, which was a three-day online event curated by Formichetti. This was launched in celebration of the release of Lady Gaga’s latest album, “Born This Way.” Gilt members were given a chance to buy items that are of Lady Gaga’s styles (among others), which included Tesoro’s heel-less pair. “Upon seeing the campaign, at first I was uncertain, but when I checked all the details of the pair I sent, I was quite stoic and really happy that the pair really made it to their campaign.”


Surely, this isn’t the last of the collaboration.

To order, visit Kermit Tesoro's website.