For Spring Summer 2024, Roger Vivier invites you to discover ‘Les Éléments Vivier’, an immersive exhibition on the occasion of Paris Fashion Week in a private hôtel particulier in the 8th district of Paris. Across four floors of the Haussmanian-style building, Creative Director Gherardo Felloni imagines a theatrical installation within the opulent French architecture in collaboration with the Italian set designer Leila Maria Fteita. A veteran of La Scala in Milan, Fteita has created some of the world’s greatest opera and dance set designs in collaboration with names such as Dante Ferretti, Gae Aulenti, Werner Herzog and Bob Wilson.
The Spring Summer 2024 collection is unveiled across the four levels in dramatic expressions of rich décor and savoir-faire, representing the key design pillars of Roger Vivier’s universe set in motion by Monsieur Vivier himself. Each reflects the spirit of Gherardo Felloni’s new designs in conversation with Roger Vivier’s illustrious history.
Entering from the ground floor, guests are invited to discover the first of four elements: the natural world of THE CRAFT OF COLOUR, imagined in homage to the Impressionist painter Claude Monet’s gardens in Giverny and the infinite nuances of colour in its spring blossoms. A naturalist mise-en-scène opens out across wall-to-wall lily ponds, as guests wander over wooden bridges and walkways to discover shoes and accessories floating in the cool waters on mirrored podiums, seen against verdant wallpapers and natural flora. Here, one discovers artisanal designs crafted in an explosion of watercolour tie-dye, including the romantic architecture of the multicoloured Viv Choc draped shoulder bag in ripples of ocean blue, butter yellow, and candy pink leather. First launched for the Autumn Winter 2023 season, the Viv Choc combines sculptural fabric with a sensual buckle with curved corners reminiscent of Monsieur Vivier’s iconic ‘Choc’
heel designed in 1959. During the Haute Couture collections in July 2023, the House unveiled the first Viv Choc ‘Piece Unique’ designs: one-of-a-kind evening bags rendered in precious leathers and embellished textiles with exceptional embroidery effects. Complimenting the tie-dye mood, a collection of High Summer raffia pieces bloom with woven flowers and crystal buckles on flats, heels, beach bags and millinery styles feature a homespun touch, as if harvested from the surrounding rushes.
Wandering upstairs through the airy mansion, one discovers THE HEART OF PASSION: rooms saturated in pink and red, the colours of love so often present in Monsieur Vivier’s historical designs, from beaded court shoes and velvet mules The ‘I Love Vivier’ pump is the ultimate House expression of this ideal, in a slender pump with a heart-shaped front. For Spring Summer 2024, it is reimagined by Gherardo Felloni in a new latticework leather construction with a slingback and stiletto heel. Other new ‘I Love Vivier’ creations echo the romantic elegance of this boldly feminine spirit, seen as a patent cut-away sandal, and pumps in soft suede or covered with bright red strass.
Ascending further towards the heavens, the third element expresses the youthful joie de vivre of Roger Vivier through THE SHAPE OF LIGHTNESS, an airy chamber filled with fluffy clouds and the Pop Art palette of the Swinging 60s. Celebrating the absolute finesse of construction and streamlined architectures of Roger Vivier’s visual language, this fantasy land features larger-than-life replicas of the ‘Viv Canard’ shoe, an archival fluted toe-shape designed by Monsieur Vivier and revived by Gherardo Felloni. The Viv Canard appears with modern kitten heels or slip-on mules with micro buckle and bow details in patent shades of spearmint, periwinkle, lilac, pale yellow and baby pink.
In the final expression of Les Éléments Vivier, the fourth floor incites AN AIR OF PRECIOUSNESS. Like the aftermath of a perfect storm, a chandelier lies smashed on the ballroom floor, as voile curtains and leaves blow about the room in a cinematic tableau vivant. Amongst the wrought metal and cut crystal, panné velvet or ruffled organza evening bags are resplendent with glittering flowers and spiral handles, and satin minaudière box clutches are covered with sparkling strass. The evolving Roger Vivier jewelry collection takes notes from Gherardo’s own private collection, with baroque pearl collars, graphic sequined drop earrings and bracelets, and enameled floral hairclips and matching headbands.
Throughout Les Éléments Vivier, the spirit of the atelier is felt through live demonstrations of embroidery, draping and other craft ‘know-how’ inherent to the House – unveiling the behind-the-scenes magic of true luxury and the expertise of our cherished artisans. From crystal and beadwork to sculptural leather, the preservation and evolution of Monsieur Vivier’s dedication to beauty and handmade objets d’art continued by Gherardo Felloni is felt throughout.
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