A French style icon. And a British monarch.
For Bruno Frisoni, the creative director of French legacy shoe brand Roger Vivier, there are many moments in the brand’s history that really stand out, but two in particular were key to an exhibition tracing its history.
“The most important one for me is the image of Catherine Deneuve in 1967 during the filming of Luis Bunuel’s [film] Belle de Jour, where she wears our Belle Vivier pumps and gives it a strong statement that still remains in the history of fashion,” said Frisoni in an email interview.
Deneuve’s buckle heels brought the world’s attention to the style, which even now speaks for 1960s chic, but has been reinvented for the modern world — as a sneaker. (The brand still sells the Belle Vivier, with its pointed toe; a square-toed pump, the Belle De Nuit, is also available.)
Equally impressive is the shoe Queen Elizabeth II wore for her coronation in 1953 — a Roger Vivier sandal. The gold kidskin sandal, studded with rubies, was designed by Vivier, a Frenchman less than 20 year before that, in 1937, had began by making shoes for other designers. When Christian Dior launched a range of footwear in 1953, Vivier was the craftsman behind the pieces, and ten years later, the Vivier brand was launched. That history and more is displayed in an exhibition, Icons Connected, starting today at Level Shoe District in the Dubai Mall, told through images and pieces in 12 chapters.
“Each chapter is an important creative moment for either Mr Vivier or for the brand today — the importance of heels in the history of Vivier since the 60’s, images of celebrities yesterday and today, the 1965 buckle,” says Frisoni.
The show is a “message of heritage, glamour, fashion history, craftsmanship, Parisian style and elegance, stardom. Also, I hope that visitors will feel the respect we have kept for Mr Vivier imprint.”
“The Virgule heel [also known as the comma heel] of 1963 is also an important moment in the life of Mr Vivier, as he wanted to create a heel that would make a strong unforgettable statement — and he achieved what he wanted,” adds Frisoni, who has been at the helm since the brand was revived in 2003 by Tod’s supremo Diego Della Valle.
It’s not all archives, however: The brand is still a favourite of movie stars, with the likes of Brie Larson, Jennifer Lawrence and Cate Blanchett wearing both shoes and clutches to this year’s big awards shows.
More than ten years on, “we have come to a point where RV is ‘in touch’ with the younger generation,” says Frisoni. “I am sure you have seen our latest collections where I have embraced and added to the existing lines a more casual look, with the great success of the Sneaky Viv’ and platform chunky sandals have been admired by many. I have wanted to take Vivier to a new step and I want to keep it on the ‘edge’. The Vivier woman is still very Parisian, sensual, strong, active, playful… I am just proposing also models that are probably more in line with the life in the day of a young, fashion sensitive new woman.”
That sensual, playful Parisian woman is personified by the brand’s ambassador, former model, author and designer Ines de la Fressange, who, like Frisoni, has been working with the brand since 2003.
“At the beginning it was important to remind [people] who was Roger Vivier and explain the patrimony he left in shoe history. [It was] important also to fix a kind of decoration in the shops, install a certain service, build images for the brand making books or catalogues and do a lot of communication,” de la Fressange says of her role. “The danger when a brand had so much success in short time is to transform the house like any other. To keep the style of the house, its identity, is essential and I guess that nowadays, where it’s common to change teams very often, Roger Vivier has a different approach.”
* Roger Vivier: Icons Connected runs at Dubai Mall from May 2-14. Entry is free.
