Roland Mouret's ''first love'' was shoes.

The French designer - whose clothes are worn by Victoria Beckham and Scarlett Johansson - admits he was into footwear before he was into dresses.

He said: ''For me, shoes were my beginning. They were my first love in fashion, long before I commenced designing dresses.

''When a woman wakes up in the morning, she slips into her fitted dress, she tousles her hair, and she puts on her shoes. Et voilà: this is all she needs. Although I do like a strong, red lip too.''

Roland believes footwear can allow a woman to be anyone she wants and attract anyone she wants too.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he said: ''Shoes can be part of the sensuality and the sexuality of a woman. Not only this, they can allow a woman to inhabit different identities - and even help her to adopt a different character, should she desire it. Because shoes can change you.

''First, the shape, height and positioning of the heel affects the foot and then, upwards, it subtly repositions the rest of the body too; legs, hips, breasts - everything. This is the physical. And then there is the look of the shoe, the design. This affects the woman who wears the shoe, and sometimes the man who sees it too.''