Vivier, Roger (1913-1998)

Roger Vivier, 1913-1998. Roger Vivier, 1913-1998.

Roger Vivier (1913-1998) was a French shoe designer who worked closely with a number of Parisian fashion houses. Vivier started working for Elsa Schiaparelli in the 1930's. At the time his designs were regarded by most retailers as shocking. Vivier went on to work for various fashion houses, including that of Christian Dior, in order to create one-off shoes, as well as shoes for particular fashion show collections.

During his work with Dior, Vivier developed several new heel forms, including the super fine, stiletto heel (with a metal rod down the middle for strength) and the so-called comma heel. He also designed extravagant, richly-decorated shoes that include embroidery as well as applied items, such as beads, jewels, lace, pearls and sequins. In addition, shoes were produced under his label RV with hand embroidered designs, using gold thread.

Many of his shoes were made to order, and among his clients was Queen Elizabeth II of Britain. He designed, for example, the shoes worn by the Queen at her coronation in 1953. Since the 1980's, Vivier also worked with the Brazilian designer, Lena Pessoa, who started to design garments and shoes in 1978, and then came to Paris in 1986. Eventually, she launched a series of exclusive garments with shoes, which was followed by a small chain of boutiques. Vivier's hand embroidered shoes are sold in these boutiques.

Since 2003 the Vivier brand name RV is owned by Diego della Valle (1953).

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 22 June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Saturday, 22 April 2017 16:56