Elysian Delusion 

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A Dream Between Paradise and Nightmare

Press Review | Carolin Holzhuber

In Elysian Delusion, Carolin Holzhuber transforms footwear into sculptural objects that explore the fragile boundary between fantasy and unease. The collection questions our desire for perfection and the dream of an ideal world — a personal paradise that may ultimately be nothing more than an illusion. Holzhuber gives form to this elusive vision through shoes that are both alluring and unsettling, seductive and surreal.

The collection unfolds like a dream slipping into a nightmare. Elongated silhouettes, exaggerated heels and seemingly impossible constructions challenge conventional ideas of footwear. Some designs evoke skeletal limbs or legs held in plaster, while a striking red shoe recalls a single drop of blood. These references to pain, vulnerability and bodily imperfection introduce a darker undertone to the imagined paradise.

The colour palette reflects this duality. Pale blue and soft white evoke serenity and purity, while metallic lizzard print and shimmering stingray 

create an ethereal, almost celestial atmosphere. Golden and brass tones suggest the warmth and preciousness of an imagined paradise, contrasted by vivid red and dramatic black, which introduce a more ominous dimension. Sculptural forms further reinforce the collection‘s otherworldly character. Towering heels, sharp extensions and sweeping curves create architectural silhouettes that appear to defy gravity. Blurring the boundaries between footwear, anatomy and sculpture, the designs move between elegance and the uncanny, beauty and distortion.

With Elysian Delusion, Carolin Holzhuber invites us to question what paradise really looks like. Is it a place of absolute perfection, or does its beauty depend on the imperfections we try to escape? Moving between elegance and unease, fantasy and physicality, the collection offers no simple answer. Instead, it leaves us suspended in a dreamlike space where the heavenly and the nightmarish coexist — and where footwear becomes a vehicle for imagining both.