Alexandre Birman

Shoppers who get the fit right tend to call them very much worth it — praising the supple leather, the luxurious feel and a feminine ankle knot that reads dressy without trying too hard. The honest caveats are about sizing rather than make: the signature sandal is widely reported to run a touch small and narrow, so the people happiest with theirs sized up or tried a pair on first. Buy for the craft and the silhouette; just respect the fit notes.

Better than most slim heels, by most accounts. Reviewers describe the stiletto versions as about as comfortable as a fine high heel gets, and the block-heel cut as genuinely easy to walk in for all-day wear. A minority find a particular last unflattering, which is the usual story with any heel — your foot shape matters. If comfort is the priority, the block heel is the safer pick over the stiletto.

They're close rivals in the dressy-sandal world, both Italian-made-feeling luxury with a strappy, feminine point of view. Birman leans on its knotted ankle-tie and tends to sit a step gentler on price than Aquazzura's most ornate styles. Choose Aquazzura for its flirtier, more embellished signatures; choose Birman if you want a clean, knotted elegance and slightly easier entry. Either way, try the fit, because both run their own way.

Exotic skins, above all. Birman built his reputation on the trademark use of snakeskin, crocodile, lizard and ostrich — the kind of textured, statement leathers that turn a sandal or pump into something rarer. It's a footwear house through and through, so the craft conversation is about the hide, the finish and the construction rather than bags or ready-to-wear.

Alexandre Birman is a Brazilian footwear designer, born on 1 October 1976, who founded his self-titled couture shoe label. The name on the box is a real person with a clear specialism — luxury women's footwear in fine and exotic leathers — which is part of why the brand has a single, consistent design voice rather than a committee aesthetic.

The designer is Brazilian — Alexandre Birman founded the label as a Brazilian footwear house. That heritage matters to how the shoes are positioned: a couture-leaning name rooted in Brazil's strong leather-and-footwear tradition, specialising in the exotic skins Birman is known for, rather than one of the established European fashion conglomerates.

Yes. In November 2009 Birman received the Vivian Infantino Emerging Talent Award from the industry publication Footwear News — a meaningful early nod from inside the shoe world. He also collaborated with designer Prabal Gurung, debuting that fall collection during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in 2010, pairing his footwear craft with a buzzy ready-to-wear name.

They have a small screen credit: Alexandre Birman shoes were featured in the Gossip Girl episode "The Grandfather: Part II". For a footwear label that built its name on exotic-skin glamour, an appearance on a show famous for its fashion is a fitting bit of early visibility — the kind of placement that helps a designer's shoes register with a wider audience.

Treat them gently, because the very thing that makes them special — natural snakeskin, crocodile, lizard or ostrich — is also delicate. Keep them away from rain and damp, store them with shoe trees and let them rest between wears, and use a conditioner made for exotic leathers rather than ordinary polish. Wipe in the direction of the scales, never against them, and have a specialist handle any serious repair.

Start with the leather, since exotics are the brand's whole identity: genuine snakeskin or crocodile shows natural, irregular grain and scale variation that printed imitations can't fake. Check the finish on the knot and hardware, the evenness of the stitching and the interior stamping, and buy from the brand's own store or established luxury retailers. A suspiciously cheap 'exotic' pair almost always means embossed leather, not the real skin.

As with most luxury footwear, the broadest markdowns appear at the close of each season — late summer and the post-holiday winter stretch — when retailers clear current stock to make room. If a specific style and size you love is in front of you, grab it, because sizes in popular cuts vanish quickly; if you're flexible, end-of-season clearance is where patience pays. Let fit, not the discount, make the final call.