Last month, Fred Slatten passed away.
The 92-year-old, who used to make platform shoes, was called ”the King of Santa Monica Boulevard” and ”the George Barris of Shoes.” He attracted customers like Elton and Liza Minnelli.
One of his employees, now a motorcycle riding instructor and author, spoke with Cheryl’s Specials about his recollections.
Keith Code said: ”Fred and I worked together for five years in the Seventies, and we co-designed a line of shoes for which I was manufacturing the shoe bases.
”I personally did the rhinestone work on Elton’s footwear. There was some talk of me doing his Rolls Royce in rhinestones but that never went anywhere. . . . Too bad, what a creation that would have been!”
Another man who contributed to Elton’s look was Nudie Cohn, who designed decorative rhinestone suits. One of the tailor’s more eye-catching creations was a flowery suit Elton wore to promote his Rocket Man single.
Although Nudie died in 1984, he’s still very much in the news. His granddaughter, Jamie, told this Web site:
”We are currently working on a documentary and a new book – and re-opening Nudie’s store come October 2015.”
