Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone is launching his own signature shoe collection later this year.
Ciccone, Madge's former artistic director who engaged in a high-profile feud with his sister after publishing a tell-all memoir in 2008, tells me that the collection will be called "Ciccone" and is being produced by a Slovakia-based company. "I am re-creating really classic styles," Ciccone, a longtime pal of mine, just told me in a phone interview from Bratislava, where he is developing the line he describes as "really cool looking looks for men women and children."
Ciccone's shoe collection will come as competition to Madonna's Truth or Dare footwear line. "I guess we are in direction competition with another, but I am sure we will have different designs," he says, noting that he is a fan of comfy shoes. "If your feet aren't comfortable there is no point in standing up."
But is he a "shoe whore?" He says, "I love to look at other people's feet, but I wouldn't call it fetish."
Ciccone says that he and his sister are on good terms and are back in contact after a long estrangement: "We just exchanged emails last week. I came across a choreographer I thought might be good for her. She is checking him out. We are past the dark days."
He says that their icy relationship thawed when he sent an email complimenting her new look, revealing, "I sent her an email saying I really like the Girl Gone Wild video and she looked great. It is really nice not to have that negativity hanging over our relationship anymore."