This July, during Paris Haute Couture Week, Roger Vivier unveiled a series of special creations with the third chapter of its Pièce Unique collection.
Imagined and designed by the house’s creative director Gherardo Felloni, these beautiful one-of-a-kind Viv’ Choc handbags as well as a series of silk gilets, showcase Roger Vivier’s highest iteration of savoir-faire and attention to detail.
Entitled “Petites Merveilles”, Felloni’s passion for nature inspires the one-of-a-kind pieces, this time looking to the ethereal beauty of insects and their flora, incorporating their colours and beauty into the designs. Each creation features talismans and gestures that recall their namesake creature. From butterflies and bees to scorpions and spiders, beetles, ladybugs and fireflies. Together, the collection of 15 bags and four gilets forms a harmonious work of artistic expressions that flow from one design to another, oscillating between diaphanous lightness and a darker sense of beauty.
Highlight pieces of the collection include the Icarus Bag. This beautiful iridescent creation mirrors the wings of a Common Blue Butterfly, meticulously detailed through shades of hand-embroidered black and blue rhinestone beads. The wing patterns, padded, are rendered in three dimensions, giving the piece a moving, sensual aspect, as if it were alive. The front reveals a buckle encrusted with blue and black rhinestones, which also adorn the platinum metal chain. The specific placement of each rhinestone, drapery and pattern has been planned by Felloni, with careful consideration for the overall balance of volume and functionality. The creation of this Pièce Unique took approximately 36 hours.
Another highlight is the Lady Ruby, inspired by the ladybug and the beliefs of prosperity held around the creature. The red satin base of the bag is draped with hand-stitched rhinestones of varying sizes and shades of red, then complemented by fringes of translucent red beaded cords tipped with red satin spheres. These luxurious orbs are themselves embroidered in red and black beads, embodying the creature of good fortune. The central closure and shoulder strap chain, composed of ultra-black platinum metal, are each hand-encrusted with Siam red, ruby-like, rhinestones in accordance with high-jewellery techniques. The creation of this Pièce Unique took approximately 40 hours. With these and many more incredible pieces to discover, we talked to Gherardo Felloni to find out more.
We just saw these beautiful, unique pieces – take us through the message you are trying to portray.
The inspiration for these pieces are the insects – these small animals that we often forget about, but they are really important. As you know, I like nature – flowers, gardening – and when I was looking for inspiration for our next collection, I said, ‘Why not insects? They are so important.’ Ladybugs, bees, all of these creatures are crucial to mankind. Every country has its own stories and references to many of these insects – a ladybug, for example, can bring good luck to Europeans. From a biological point of view, an insect eats parasites and protects other types of nature, so they are really important to the ecosystem. They are beautiful, too.
Every bag is a one-of-a-kind piece and each bag has its own story, dedicated to a different insect. Of course, there is a beautiful savoir-faire behind each bag. Each embroidery is different. For me, it was an easy project because when you work on unique pieces, you have the freedom. You don’t have to think about quantity or replicating the pieces, so all of the stones, features and details used on the bag are quite special, as you don’t need to have vast quantities of them. I like the idea of working on something that is so far from fast fashion. It takes many hours to make each of these bags, and as a consumer, if you have the spending power to buy a bag like this, it’s really special. We are not working on a collection. You are buying into a unique piece with a message.
Why do you find it important to be inspired by nature?
For me, inspiration is everywhere. There are moments when you see things and get inspired by them. But nature is really important for everyone. I grew up around it, and so I always thought it was beautiful and inspiring. Now, I think especially the new generation is attracted to nature and understands that we need to take care of it because it’s our living space. If we destroy nature, we will destroy the planet, and that really is the simple equation.
What is something that you would still like to work on?
I would love to work on sunglasses. I love objects that elevate a silhouette – hats, jewels, and, of course, gilets – we have done much of this already. A gilet, for me, is like a jewel for the body, and that’s why they are all embroidered, and you can wear them wherever you want in any way you want. Not many brands work on gilets, and I think it’s a homage to this kind of effect that Roger Vivier changed the female silhouette.
Tell us about the upcoming fall/winter collection.
The Optical collection is a homage to the golden era of Roger Vivier in the sixties. He was the master of black-and-white designs. So, I decided to honour this moment. It was quite spontaneous, but I soon realised it was a big trend, and the sixties inspired many designers. Maybe because it was a moment in Europe when women were liberated. Women started to wear more comfortable shoes with a chunkier heel and it was quite an important moment for women’s empowerment. Roger Vivier was the one to embrace this moment through his shoes, and I decided to revisit it.
What is upcoming for next season?
We are preparing the September presentation. If I could describe this collection in one word, it would be “ lightness”.
What is the motto that you live by?
We have to be resilient, believe in our ideas, and promote what we love to other people.
What would you tell our readers in the Middle East?
I’m quite fascinated by the Middle East. It’s a big area, and I would love to explore it and become more in touch with its culture.
