He was nicknamed the “Fragonard of shoes”; in 1937, Roger Vivier introduced his eponymous brand to 22 rue Royale in Paris. Strong in his passion for cabaret and music halls, this man depicted a vision of this “alchemy of elegance” that in his eyes made a Parisian. For, it’s through his shoes that this virtuoso of shapes and materials created his art. Fashion is not something he followed: rather he felt it, he made it. In 1926, with a degree from the Ecole des Beaux Arts de Paris, he went to learn the art of shoemaking in Provence. From 1953 to 1957, he would take charge of Dior’s shoe collections; that same year, the artist officially became such when Queen Elizabeth II of England was crowned with his gilded, garnet-encrusted kidskin shoes on her feet. But what Fashion owes most to him are his lines of high heels. Roger Vivier was a master in shoeing women: in 1954, he contributed a stroke of his pen to the silhouette by inventing the high heel. With their proud camber, the high heel accompanied the universe of the Dior label. Etrave, Choc (convexly curved), and Virgule – a two-part heel that protrudes towards the front of the shoe before retracting towards the back part in the middle – would soon follow. In 1960, he decked out Brigitte Bardot with boldly hued vinyl for her “Harley Davidson” video: the first knee boots as we know them today were born. Soon after, he signed off on his first custom-made shoes for Mistinguett and Josephine Baker.
Roger Vivier felt fashion and in that sense perceived the elitist pitfalls of custom-made. In 1958, he was one of the first to blaze the trail for the democratization of Fashion with a collection of ready-to-wear shoes. In 1965 he participated in the YSL saga by accompanying one of the mythic Mondrian dresses with a square-toed shoe, dubbed les Chiquettes. They’ve today made their renown, these 4.5 cm beveled high heels, with their particular character residing in the iconic rectangular buckle that adorns the upper part of the shoe. With Roger Vivier, you wear it like you think of it: with confidence and sensuality. And it’s without a doubt for this reason that it was impossible for the shoemaker to find his successor. Notwithstanding, the exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo will be the occasion for a retrospective of his career, his work, and finally the occasion to observe the numerous lines that he offered to the Fashion world. It’s on from October 2nd to November 18th, going by its French title “Virgule, etc… Dans les pas de Roger Vivier”…
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