Meet Noritaka Tatehana, The Man Who Designs Lady Gaga's Shoes

By Danica Lo Dec 13, 2010, 12:25pm EST

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Our woman in Tokyo, Misha Janette, meets Noritaka Tatehana, the man who designs Lady Gaga's now-world-famous heel-less footwear.

Japanese designer Noritaka Tatehana's fame increased exponentially when Lady Gaga wore his heel-less "Night Walker" shoes earlier this year—and his fame subsequently skyrocketed when the singer later tripped and fell in them. While the young designer continues to make custom pieces for her Gaga-ness, he has been busy creating even more vertiginous footwear for which he revealed this weekend for his “Chimera” exhibit at posh boutique Valveat 81 in Tokyo.

Some shoes now come with gold cleats and another is slathered with Swarovski crystals. Most are for show, but a black pair made for the exhibit is on sale for about 400,000 yen (about $4,800), the same price as several pearly duds Tatehana has made in collaboration with Japanese brand Somarta for spring—which are limited to 15 pairs only.

When we asked Tatehana about dealing with all of the attention he’s been receiving lately, he said “The hardest part is getting all of these emails from 15 year-old Lady Gaga fans. They tell me they love my shoes but can’t afford them, so they ask me to just send them a pair. I don’t know what to say to them,” he chuckles.