I don’t know about you, but I watched Prada’s Fall 2012 runway show with baited breath, projected on the big flat panel screen at PurseBlog/TalkShoes HQ. Prada’s seasonal output always tells us so much about where the fashion conversation is headed and what we’ll all be wearing in the near future (even those among us who aren’t Prada fans, let alone customers) that missing the show simply isn’t an option. It’s required viewing.

Prada is particularly influential when it comes to shoes, and the runway offers for Fall 2012 were nothing less than crazypants. Fluevogian flared heels, chunky platforms (and flatforms), leather shoes seemingly dipped in a thick layer of liquid rubber and then let dry. My favorites, naturally, were the Prada Jeweled Satin D’Orsays – I’m a sucker for anything purple and black.

These shoes are probably not the immediate collector’s items that last season’s Prada Flame Heels were, but after a collection with such a strong, widely discussed aesthetic, it makes perfect sense for an aesthete like Miuccia to go in an entirely different direction in order to keep the conversation fresh and relevant. I don’t expect these shoes to sell out quickly, but it’ll be interesting to see how they affect the footwear marketplace over the next year. Buy through Neiman Marcus for $1450.