A Shoe Lover’s Dream: Inside Roger Vivier’s New Parisian Maison

Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu

Swirls of bright, fragrant flowers and gilded cherubs framed the marbled staircase at Roger Vivier’s new Parisian home on a cool fall night, where Tracee Ellis Ross, Naomi Campbell, Catherine Deneuve, Lou Doillon, Shailene Woodley, and Sarah Paulson clinked champagne flutes and admired shoes old and new. The setting—an 18th-century hôtel particulier in Saint-Germain-des-Prés—offered ample reasons to celebrate: creative director Gherardo Felloni unveiled the season’s collection while Inès de la Fressange curated an archive of eclectic styles reaching back to the 1950s. A blowout fête was the only fitting way to christen the iconic footwear house’s new permanent address.

On the ground floor, guests wandered a museum-worthy exhibition of archival photographs and vintage Roger Vivier “deep cuts,” many lavish with chunky jewels—positively Marie-Antoinette-worthy. “He was always looking for new things in fabrics, in shapes, all kinds of materials,” de la Fressange told Vogue of her curation. The model, designer, and paragon of French style—who knew Vivier personally—was keen to broaden the lens: “People think Roger Vivier is only a buckle shoe. For me, it was important to show all these things. Sometimes they are a little crazy. But they’re always fun, never vulgar.”

Downstairs, friends of the house previewed La Salle des Archives—a serious deep dive into Roger Vivier history—where more than 1,000 pieces, from shoes to sketches, collages, magazines, and photographs, are immaculately preserved. The space will open by appointment to researchers and students—consider it Paris’s new shoe library.

Artisans worked on site as party-goers moved through the salons and discovered Felloni’s latest: a maximalist riff on the Belle Vivier, the brand’s core style first created for Yves Saint Laurent’s 1965 Mondrian collection and immortalized by Deneuve in Belle de Jour (1967). Typically streamlined and unadorned, the Belle Vivier appears this season in exotic leathers, stingray, PVC, and high-octane embellishment. “You can wear the Belle Vivier with jeans,” Felloni noted of the bedazzled renditions. “I tried to get inspired by the craftsmanship he used to bring—and, for the first time, put it on his shoes. It’s quite unusual.”

Felloni’s collection matched the mood: over-the-top embroidery, hand-beaded buckles, and fully adorned companion bags and gilets—made for a night of pure celebration.