Paris. 1947. The story of Repetto was just beginning. Rose Repetto, mother of choreographer and dancer Roland Petit, conceived her first pointe and demi-pointe shoes with her son’s direction. Thanks to a reversed sewing technique, she made them with an unequalled comfort, ideal for executing pas-de-bourrées, arabesques, and other entrechats. These slippers wouldn’t take long to seduce stars the world over. Rudolf Nourrev, Maurice Béjart, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Carolyn Carlson would hurry to the couturier’s workshop, not far from the Opéra National de Paris.
In 1956, Brigitte Bardot took her first steps into cinema in the Roger Vadim film “And God Created Woman”. To shoot the famous mambo scene, the actress called out to the talented designer. She asked her to confection a pair of light, supple, and stripped down slippers… that would leave the toes semi-visible. So Rose Repetto signed off on a style made of carmen leather: the Cendrillon ballet flats, later renamed B.B.s. Success wasn’t far behind. The brand’s first boutique would open its doors on rue de la Paix in Paris in 1959. Mythic ever since, Repetto’s street ballet flats tread the pavement of the French capital’s streets, essential accessories on the feet of ladies wearing miniskirts and gingham shirts tied up at the waist.
One year later, the Zizi saw the light of day in the 70s. Inspired by jazz dancers’ slippers, this model was made of soft, fine leather and followed the movements of the foot to perfection. It was Serge Gainsbourg’s turn to fall under the brand’s spell, and he adopted these white laced brogues, these famous Zizis, created by Rose for her stepdaughter, the ringleader of the Zizi Jeanmaire revue. Dug up by Jane in the early 70s, she explains: “Serge was looking for gloves for his feet, since he hated walking.” It was by slipping his bare foot into this pleasant white jazz slipper that another legend was born.
“Repetto everlasting”, he liked to say, he who bought more than thirty pairs a year. It’s hard to imagine Gainsbourg without his Repettos; it’s part of the collective imagination of Gainsbourg, and yet, there was indeed a very first time. After that famous first time, he never left them. He even schooled others in them: a good portion of the French youth still follows his footsteps in Zizis, from Mathieu Chedid to Bénabar and Thomas Dutronc in between. Today, this flagship model remains a must-have for men and women alike. The birth of an icon, reinvented each season in a number of colors – often neon.
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