Lars Byrresen Petersen, aka @LarsLala on Instagram, amassed a following online for his unique posts about shoes hailing from an array of brands and eras. Now he’s venturing into the footwear business himself with a protective shoe accessory that isn’t just practical, but beautiful too.
So Lars LaLa
So Lars LaLa
Petersen is launching the product — at once a heel protector, decorative statement and source of extra stability — under the name So Lars LaLa, and it debuted on Tuesday in Paris at Maison du Danemark, a space which exhibits Danish culture. The hydrangea-inspired accessory is only releasing in a limited drop of 100 signed and numbered pairs, made available to those that sign up on a waitlist.
So Lars LaLa
So Lars LaLa
A trained fashion journalist, Petersen’s love of shoes goes back to his early days. He grew up a competitive horseback rider in the Danish countryside, longing for a pair of “beautiful super tight leather dressage boots” instead of the “really ugly plastic riding boots” beginners are typically given. So when he finally got them, this was his reaction: “Nothing can beat this feeling, and since then I’ve been obsessed with shoes.”
He first had the idea to post about shoes when Instagram was in its early days and he was working at Visionaire. When his job didn’t embrace the idea, he posted to his own personal account, an endeavor which evolved into launching the @LarsLaLa account we know today in 2018, now with nearly 140,000 followers.
On Instagram, you might find Petersen sharing details on the latest cruise shoes that hit the runway or throwing it back to a totally out-of-the-box design, like furry stiletto platform boots by Christian Louboutin from fall 2011 or Louis Vuitton by Marc Jacobs spring 2011 sandals featuring heels in the shape of a horse leg. He not only shares images but delves into the backstory, context and physical details of a shoe.
“Shoes are a lot more meaningful than an accessory. It’s played a part throughout history and social economics, politics,” said Petersen, who also adds superficial details like measurements to get to the bottom of the question: “What makes a beautiful shoe? Is it a 10-inch heel with a two-inch toe box that’s red and the heel is green? These are the things that I’m constantly analyzing, and I just want people to think about why creative directors are creative directors, and why they’re so good — it doesn’t just happen haphazardly.”
With So LarsLaLa, his accessories also fit into the tradition of overshoes, protective designs which have manifested in various ways throughout history across several cultures.
So Lars LaLa
So Lars LaLa
Petersen thought of his accessory, crafted from recycled TPU, during the pandemic as he contemplated the generally static nature of shoes. And then he noticed a fashion show in Paris that featured “ugly heel caps on every single shoe” which he found “flabbergasting.” Enter his heel sculpture, which can fit on various heel shapes (except block heels) measuring at least six centimeters and offers a shoe a whole new aesthetic. For the design process, Petersen found inspiration in his grandfather’s passion for gardening.
He told FN, “Imagine this humongous garden in Denmark that’s just overrun with hydrangeas and flowers, because my grandpa just loved them so much. So, transporting this garden to the Danish House on the Champs Elysées for the launch event on Tuesday is really like a dream come true.”
As for what’s next with So Lars LaLa, Petersen plans for a few more limited-edition heel cover drops to gauge interest — and then he might even have plans to wade into a new category.
