Four generations of master shoemakers have brought unparalleled shoe expertise to us – know-how today celebrating its 125th anniversary around the iconic Andy model.
If BERLUTI carries in its repertoire an iconic model called Andy, it is indeed Andy Warhol that it refers to.
In 1962, Andy Warhol climbed the steps of the store at 26 rue Marbeuf in Paris. While Olga Berluti – the fourth generation – was learning the shoemaker’s trade there, she is responsible for taking the order of this pair of moccasins designed by the king of American Pop Art. But at the time, he was completely unknown to the general public.
Understanding that she was dealing with an exceptional being, Olga Berluti made a unique pair of shoes for Andy Warhol. In secret, from the skins she could find, she made a pair of moccasins of incredible modernity for the time.
When he returned, a year later, to look for his shoes, Andy Warhol was told that his pair was not quite like the others … Indeed, the skin which was used for their making presented an invisible defect, at first glance – on one of the two shoes, a protruding vein indeed crossed the plateau. It is that… the skin was that of a transgressive cow, understand by that of those who like to rub against the barbed wire.
For Andy Warhol, transcended by transgression, this particularity gave his shoes a unique character. History has it that this episode made Andy Warho decree that, henceforth, he would only want “shoes made from the skin of transgressive cows.” “
For the 125th anniversary of the house, BERLUTI naturally chose to reinterpret the iconic Andy model. But this time, in a Penny Loafer version, through a collaboration with the Monnaie de Paris.
BERLUTI thus imagines a Penny Loafer embossed with the BERLUTI coat of arms and slightly curved for optimal comfort – whose ‘penny’ is here specially struck by the Monnaie de Paris.
Something to add to the exceptional BERLUTI know-how; the French manufacture has indeed struck coins and medals since the year 864 …
On the Andy news, we therefore file the legend of the Penny Loafer. These shoes, worn by young Britons in the 20th century, owe their name to the fact that these students slipped a penny into the half-moon yoke on the top of their moccasins, in case they had to use a phone booth.
We see here the coins struck in gold or silver by the Monnaie de Paris slipping onto the front of the Andy Penny Loafers – taking up in turn the signature patterns of BERLUTI, or its emblems! On the occasion of 125 years, again, the insole is adorned with the logo of the house …
BERLUTI also takes the care of injecting these legendary shoes with its vision of an over-the-top chic around four limited edition versions. Full grain, supple, raw and hand patinated – all are cut from BERLUTI’s favorite leather, Venezia leather.
Doubly iconic shoes therefore, available in BERLUTI stores around the world and on the site, from this Thursday, October 15, 2020.
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