Surprise! These shoes from "and just like that …" Has Sarah Jessica Parker designed

Sarah Jessica Parker designed shoes for "And Just Like That...".

With the internet breaking news 24/7, it's hard to keep something a secret for long. Still, the cast and crew of "And Just Like That..." kept a key element of the series a secret until the very end. After popularizing Manolo Blahniks on 'Sex and the City' and sporting a series of unforgettable heels, Carrie Bradshaw has now returned to screens with a new collection of shoes designed by none other than Sarah Jessica Parker herself.

As the lead actress and executive producer on the comedy-drama, Parker brought many of her talents to And Just Like That... And thanks to the shoes that she and her late business partner George Malkemus contributed to the costumes, her influence is palpable from head to toe. While there are other shoe designers on screen, her heels, presented under faux vintage label Duchessa Gardini, are the hallmark of Carrie's fashion forward looks. The mules Carrie wears on her way to the doctor in episode 5 or the Mary Jane flapper-style pumps she wears in episode 8 with the pink plaid Batsheva house dress and a pastel babushka scarf are covetable and pure Carrie.

Given the fashion legacy of "Sex and the City," the sequel's costumes inevitably came under scrutiny. The media and die-hard fans who document every outfit worn by Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte on social media stalked every paparazzi picture from the set, so keeping the shoes a secret was a challenge. Costume designer Molly Rogers, who worked under Patricia Field on the original series and helmed the sequel alongside colleague Danny Santiago, is still amazed they pulled it off: "The show is special on so many levels. You have dealing with an audience that applauds when they see the 'Roger' belt again," says Rogers of the wide studded belt Carrie wore with a vintage floral sundress and Dior stiletto heels in the 2008 film, "it is unbelievable that there are still mysteries, even with social media and looking at it all under a microscope. Also, it was great to use a shoe that grabs people's attention."

By Alice Newbold

SJP shoes by Sarah Jessica Parker have been available since 2014

Although Sarah Jessica Parker's eponymous shoe brand has been on the market since 2014, she originally had no intention of designing shoes for the series: "It There's no SJP collection in Carrie's world; I don't exist there because that would be too weird for me," says Parker. "I also didn't want it to appear like I was taking advantage of a business opportunity and (the network) HBO, but as my first fitting approached in May last year, it became clear that there were still some gaps in terms of accessories there that Molly and David wanted to fill."

After sitting down with Malkemus, a solution emerged: "George and I decided to design the shoes that Molly and David needed but not use our names," says Parker, who gave Malkemus the idea for attributing the distinctive name and its allusion to nobility. "We were thinking of an old Italian brand. Our shoes are all handmade in Italy by third and fourth generation shoemakers, so such a brand would have been entirely possible. If it were any other series it might not matter, but that's what counts here Provenance of a shoe. People are curious if the shoes are from the turn of the century or fresh off the Paris catwalks."

Duchessa Gardini shoes combine vintage elements with modern design

The series capitalizes on this curiosity by incorporating nods to the original series that only observant viewers will notice: SJP has thoughts on the "Because Molly Rogers had full access to the HBO archives and Parker's own archive, she had a lot of original parts from the show, but the Duchessa Shoes should not complement the existing wardrobe. Instead, they should innovate, taking elements from popular retro pieces and modernizing them. Sometimes you look at a vintage piece and it's exciting, but the proportions are weird," explains Parker. "There are parts that are interesting and wonderful, but then the front is wrong or the height of the heel is wrong. We wanted variety and a sense of the different eras: '40s, '50s, '60s."

Worded take on classic fashion has always been a feature of Carrie's wardrobe and the Gardini shoes complement her eclectic wardrobe perfectly. Over the course of the season, we witness her go through myriad developments as she copes with loss, injury, career uncertainty, and new ideas about sex - the subject that made her famous. However, her character's fashion philosophy has remained the same: "Carrie is Carrie, and she's always going to be whimsical, mixing high fashion and simple looks. That hasn't changed," says Rogers, "Age is a number, but how you get into What you look like in clothes and what you're attracted to doesn't change when you know yourself that well. Plus, any of us can walk into a store and spot a Carrie look."

From Miriam Nehring

Shoes are Carrie's trademark

Shoes are Carrie's trademark and no matter what, she wears something distinctive: "The shoes are part of the narrative and help us convey a message with fewer words", Parker explains: "If you look closely in the scene where Carrie drives to the funeral home with Charlotte [after Mr. Big's death], she's reaching for a pair of shoes that are by her front door. Comfortable mules with a 90mm heels, the kind of shoes she would wear to buy a newspaper, and puts them on without even thinking about it; it's second nature to her. Even after her hip surgery, she wears something glittery - a pair of Louboutins that she also wore in the film - as if to signal that she's still herself."

The connection between object and wearer is something that any fashion lover can relate to: "Carrie has a relationship with her shoes, and although it's not as meaningful as a relationship with a human being or even a book, we have they hold a special place in their lives," says Parker. "You can blame them for it, and that's fine, but we all have things in our lives that are difficult to explain why they're so meaningful to us. [Also] at the funeral, our 'Black Event', The dress Carrie is wearing isn't a designer look, but there's something about it that the audience can relate to.She doesn't say much - she's trying to be stoic and lofty in the face of death - but through the dress you can feel what she's feeling. It's fun to be a part of something where the clothes and the shoes always matter so much."

Of course, the clothes Carrie wears in difficult moments are only part of the puzzle. The series retains the optimism and vitality of its predecessor. Your version of Manhattan is fantastic enough to lose yourself in, and the decor supports that feeling. Rogers compares being immersed in Carrie's world to going from black and white to technicolor in the second act of The Wizard of Oz: "I saw the pandemic and the Zoom life as Kansas. I just wanted to step into Oz and see the beauty "says Rogers, "we knew we were going to have big shoes to fill. Just think of every character [after 'Sex and the City'] who walked up to a store window and said 'Hello Lover'. We knew that we had to continue."

The outfits for "And Just Like That..." were designed to reflect New York City creativity

Judging by the excitement each outfit inspired, Rogers more than achieved that goal. After pieces like the icy-blue bodycon dress by Norma Kamali that Carrie wears on their first date to Big, her trusty Fendi "Baguette" and Versace's "Mille Feuille" dress all went viral, it's clear that audiences will love each Ensemble appreciates, even if some of their favorite pieces never made it onto the screen. "I made a pink and purple windbreaker and embroidered Bergdorf Goodman's address instead of a team number," says Rogers. One-offs and vintage were prioritized, but so was aspiring designers: "We never wanted to go into costume design with the motto, 'Let's take this look from this runway show,'" says Rogers. "We tried to find local shops like Rodney Patterson, an amazing hatter who has a shop in Brooklyn. I found him through Instagram which was very lucky; how often do you have a hatter who's only 15 minutes away! We wanted to have those great New York moments. In the '80s you went to the club and you saw a new brand that someone was wearing. Now social media is the club."

The focus on New York City talent makes choosing Parker shoes all the more sensible. While the name may have Italian flair, Parker's company, whose flagship store is in Midtown Manhattan, couldn't be more local. With the finale set to unveil a host of new surprises and multiple pairs of shoes, Parker is grateful she had the opportunity to recreate the ultimate New York It girl and complete her epic wardrobe: "It was big and exciting and scary, but also comforting and familiar," she says of the experience: "In a way, it was extraordinary with all these new actors and people giving their time, commitment and trust in us. There was also the loss of dear friends and many challenges, but I am fortunate to be surrounded by people I love and who inspire me and to be shooting in the city I call home."

Here's a closer look at Carrie's Duchessa Gardini shoes:

This article originally appeared on Vogue.com.