Christian Dior said: “Many women think that shoes aren’t important, but the real proof of a woman’s elegance is on her feet.” This phrase alone illustrates all the importance that the initiator of French haute couture gave to women’s shoes. More an inventor than a shoemaker, Roger Vivier’s creative and avant-garde mind was such a fit with Monsieur Dior’s collections that he and he alone was entrusted with creating their shoes. What Christian Dior truly admired in a shoemaker was a capacity to manufacture “foot sculptures”, and this is exactly what Roger Vivier did. He saw shoes as a sculpture whose shape should constantly be questioned: “Lines have always interested me,” Vivier confided. “I redo my drawing 500 times to verify the appropriateness of the idea and to respect the foot’s architecture.” Heels were his strong point, from the stiletto heel that he was the first to launch in 1954, to the Etrave heel (1958), the Choc heel (1959) and finally the sinuous Virgule heel, the manifesto of his eponymous label. The atypical shape that punctuates the silhouette allowed him to obtain an artistic identity independent of the large fashion houses that used his creations.
The Tod’s group purchased Roger Vivier in 2003. Back then, Bruno Frisoni, the label’s creative director, was smart enough to invent not just with his own personality and creativity, but also by using the archives and foundations of Roger Vivier to recondition the brand’s classic pieces and illustrious history. By taking inspiration from former collections worn by icons of times gone by, legends of the silver screen and crowned heads alike, Bruno Frisoni modernized and turned the Virgule heel into an artistic object, adored by icons of today like Inès de la Fressange and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. This curved heel has become the emblem of French chic and elegance throughout time. The Virgule doesn’t incarnate any type of classic shoe: with its unique design, it represents a collector’s item for fashion personalities and Roger Vivier clients alike.
The shoe even saw an exhibit dedicated to it in 2013, entitled “Virgule, etc.” at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. A hodge-podge of Vivier shoes was assembled around a number of intergenerational collections, graciously melting into the assortment of paintings and antiques that decorate the museum itself. The exhibit’s objective was no doubt achieved, as it was nigh impossible to distinguish between the artistic dimension of the Egyptian sculptures in the background and that of these comma-shaped foot sculptures. Just by leafing through a few classic issues of Vogue, you can see how the Virgule, whether gilded or multi-color, monochrome or checked, has lit up a number of looks shot by photographs like Peter Lindbergh or Mario Testino. This iconic object is a touch of femininity and lightness, an instrument to feel sexy and gracious. A shoe it is indeed, by it’s a shoe that bears within it “the spirit of Roger Vivier”.
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