When I met Joy Chen Kolterman, the first thing she did was check out my shoes. It’s practically genetic; her family has been in the footwear business for years. Kolterman is the designer behind the high-end shoe company Glory Chen and its more affordable line called Joy Chen, both headquartered in a Post Street penthouse and crafted at her father’s factory in China (most luxury shoes are still made in Italy). In Glory Chen’s spring collection, a patterned sandal with a shapely sole hints at the designer’s artistic leanings—she’s a sculptor and painter with a graphic arts degree from the Academy of Art University. Apparently, the well-heeled have taken notice: The four-year-old company is going retail, with flagships due to open in New York and on San Francisco’s Maiden Lane this spring. Here Kolterman advises us on silhouettes and styles to wear this season and beyond. Glory Chen: 134 Maiden Ln., S.F., glorychen.com

Pattern is so big for spring, even in shoes, but how do you pull off the mix and match look?
O magazine is advising women to combine various patterns by keeping them all within the same color group. Personally, I don’t think the color, pattern, or material matter for matching. It depends on the character of the shoes and of the clothing. When I wear patterned shoes, I prefer to simplify my clothing by wearing solids, which makes my shoes stand out more.

Fashion has all these rules about silhouette: broad shoulders with straight skirts, narrow shoulders with full skirts. Do certain shoe silhouettes go better with certain types of clothing?
Yes, I think so. Normally, wedges look better with long pants, like an Yves Saint Laurent wide trouser. Platforms always go best with a tight dress or skirt. Flats look great with skinny pants and capris. Kitten or Cuban heels go well with everything, and they look especially great with a mini.

The spike heel with pointy toes is considered the height of sexiness. Can other styles be sexy, too?
You can have a round-toe shoe that is sexy. It really has to do with the design. A low-heeled shoe that reveals toe cleavage, like these that I’m wearing, is also sexy. But not every woman can wear them. You can’t have bunions, for example. Whatever part of the foot you’re exposing has to look nice.

I guess with ankle straps, you’d want that ankle to be exposed…
I’d wear them with a big organza skirt,

Speaking of Manolos, do you own any? Or Jimmy Choos?
No. I am not that type of woman.

What type are you?
More neutral, more independent. Less a slave to fashion.

What do you think about the trend of wearing socks with sandals?
That’s an image we once used to illustrate the Soviet Union’s lack of fashion sense, but Annie Hall wore them, too. I wouldn’t make fun of that. Now people know more about how to wear clothes and mix everything. But it can be a difficult look to pull off. You have to think carefully about what kind of clothes you wear it with—it can be shorts or a skirt, low socks or high socks.

Do you have a shoe fetish?
No. Maybe because I’m in the industry and I can have as many as I want. But I do like dresses.

Your designer of choice is…
Jil Sander.

But you’re wearing a black A-line dress by Moschino.
That’s because I’m pregnant. I feel more comfortable in this style.

Did you ever try to rebel against the family business?
I did try to get away from it at one point, but then I remembered a high-school teacher’s advice: No matter what you end up doing in art, you have to find your own concept and adapt it to all kinds of design, whether it is fine art or graphic design. Because of my father’s business, I can interpret art and design onto shoes. I can still express an artistic idea.

A generation ago, schoolchildren polished their Oxfords, and shoeshiners were commonplace in big cities. What’s changed?
People used to care for their shoes more. Now people are more casual and sporty, sadly.

Do you own sneakers?
Two