Book: Roger Vivier, published by Rizzoli New York
Catherine Deneuve memorably strutted around in a pair of Rogier Vivier's iconic pilgrim shoes in Luis Buñuel’s 1967 film Belle du Jour. The square-heeled flat pump - boldly defined with a large oversized rectangular chrome buckle – has morphed slightly since then, but its overarching style, reused and reinvented season after season by Roger Vivier's creative director Bruno Frisoni, is very much alive and kicking on the feet of many a modern ‘belle’ today. No mean feat in the fast-moving landscape of fashion, and testament to the staying power of an iconic style, created almost five decades ago as the footwear to accompany Yves Saint Laurent’s Mondrian dresses. So it's about time the House of Roger Vivier marked its founding French shoemaker’s imprint in fashion, and what better way to do so than with ‘Roger Vivier’, a comprehensive new tome published by Rizzoli New York.
Monsieur Vivier, of course, needs little introduction. Born in 1907, Vivier was known and loved for the daring and lavish shoes he designed over a seven-decade career. He notably rose to prominence in the 1950s as Dior's star shoemaker, enhancing the brand’s New Look silhouette with the era-defining stiletto that he brought into the style arena in 1954, kick-starting a trend in mainstream women's fashion in the process. The designer closed his business before he passed away in 1998, but a brand revival was instigated in the form of TOD's owner Diego Della Valle, whose acquisition of the brand in 2003 has steadily taken Roger Vivier from Parisian heritage shoemaker to an internationally-reaching luxury shoes and accessories label.
A visually-led narrative takes the reader on a journey through a whole host of impactful creations that the house of Roger Vivier has produced since its founder set up shop on Paris’ rue Royale aged 30 years – there’s the famous Comma heel pump, the graphic Prismick bag and the 'Rose n' Roll' sandal from the S/S 2008 collection that graced the pages of Wallpaper* in July 2008. All this, packaged up in a graphically-charged format, is peppered with essays by Olivier Saillard, Virginie Mouzat, Loïc Prigent, Colombe Pringle and Elisabeth Sammelhack.
Also featuring conversations between Roger Vivier brand ambassador Inès de la Fressange and Catherine Deneuve, the brand's creative director Bruno Frisoni and Cate Blanchett, the newly-released book is a spectacular insight into M. Vivier's fanciful world of shoes and accessories.
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
-
Phaidon’s new Graphic Classics is a lavish greatest hits of graphic design
Graphic Classics is a compendium of seven centuries of visual culture, from the everyday and ephemeral to visionary works that reshaped our world
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Birley Chocolate hits the sweet ’n’ chic spot in London’s Chelsea
The new Birley Chocolate shop, a sibling to Birley Bakery, is a confection of colour as delicious as its finely crafted goods
By Melina Keays Published
-
Feel at home at Auberge, Château La Coste's new inn for culture lovers
Auberge La Coste sits at the heart of the art-filled estate, minutes away from the joyful town of Aix-en-Provence
By Harriet Thorpe Published
-
Marissa Zappas makes perfume that smells like tornadoes and birthday cake
Marissa Zappas has a radical imagination. Here, the perfumer talks with Jocelyn Silver about the new direction for her namesake brand
By Jocelyn Silver Published
-
Andrés Reisinger makes Hourglass blush with bubblegum-pink drapes
Artist Andrés Reisinger speaks exclusively to Wallpaper* about his New York takeover with Hourglass cosmetics
By India Birgitta Jarvis Published
-
Hermès heads to New York for a one-off show capturing ‘the pace, energy and optimism’ of the city
Yesterday evening (7 June 2024) at New York’s Pier 36, Nadège Vanhee held ‘The Second Chapter’ of her A/W 2024 Hermès womenswear show with an energetic, colour-saturated collection inspired by her former home city
By Jack Moss Published
-
Inside Cutler and Gross’ ‘warm and inviting’ New York address
As Cutler and Gross upsize to a new store on New York’s Mercer Street, we speak to designers Chris Leong and Dominic Leong of New York-based architecture firm Leong Leong about the space, which was inspired by ’archival libraries and reading rooms’
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Remembering Liquid Sky, the cult 1990s New York fashion store that was ‘also a scene’
As a new book is released, Liquid Sky founders Claudia Rey and Carlos Slinger tell Wallpaper’s Mary Cleary about the downtown fashion store that attracted New York’s underground and had Chloë Sevigny as a sales clerk
By Mary Cleary Published
-
Met Gala 2024 and ‘Sleeping Beauties’ exhibition: what to expect
Everything Wallpaper* knows about the Met Gala 2024 this evening (6 May 2024) – from the theme, exhibition and dress code to the A-list co-chairs
By Jack Moss Last updated
-
Inside Sterling Ruby and OTW by Vans’ skatewear-inspired collaboration
American artist Sterling Ruby and OTW by Vans’ footwear collaboration was revealed in Los Angeles, backdropped by a specially constructed skate park created with PLAYLAB, INC
By Tilly Macalister-Smith Published
-
Inside John Lobb’s timelessly elegant New York flagship, a trove for shoe lovers
John Lobb opens its 700 Madison Avenue store, a walnut wood-clad space filled with sophisticated footwear for any occasion or terrain
By Tianna Williams Published