What’s a guy to do when a major luxury conglomerate buys into the label he’s nurtured from nothing into a runaway train of shoe success, seen on the feet of the world’s most famous women and coveted by just about everyone else?

When he’s Nicholas Kirkwood, the answer is to remain just as modest and down-to-earth as ever.

‘I think when Paris is over, I might crash for a bit,’ he told ELLE at the Paris showroom where his spring/summer 2014 collection – all Moroccan-inspired laser-cuts and signature Kirkwood heels with go-faster rubber soles – was on display for the city’s show-goers. ‘Not for very long though. I don’t want to be late for pre-…’

It’s this uncompromising work ethic – coupled, of course, with a bloody good eye for want women want to walk around in – that have propelled Kirkwood directly to here: the verge of something Very Big. Just a couple of weeks ago, it was announced that LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton had bought a majority stake in his nine-year-old business, putting him in the bracket of a historical wave of investment in young London-based designers along with Christopher Kane and J.W. Anderson.

So, what’s the next step?

‘The main steps will really be hiring more high level staff, because we’re a small team – we’re all overworked; we’re all doing about five jobs,’ he laughed, ‘and retail, expanding locations, which will be a big focus in the next couple of years. There’s a lot more to do. This is just the beginning.’

We could not be more excited about that. (And don’t forget about those handbags that you promised us, please).

Best catwalk shoes: s/s 2014