And the shoes are displayed at the United Nude’s new dark flagship store lighted like works of art. Clearly, an architect’s hand is in the details. Rem D Koolhaas, the creative director, is indeed an architect (and second cousin of Rem Koolhaas). The avant-garde Amsterdam brand plays with gravity with unorthodox designs like centering the heel on the foot bed. The Cosmo (pictured, $485) is made of a hand-molded carbon fiber.

The Engineered Shoe - Shoes