Portraits of French shoes

The political and economic relations of Russia and France during their long history have experienced periods of cooling, up to direct military conflicts, and periods of rapprochement, when both countries worked closely in the military or trade and economic field. This year has been declared the Year of France in Russia and the Year of Russia in France in order to further strengthen cultural and economic ties. A lot of attention to music, painting, theater, art projects ... There was a place and shoes. The international exhibition "Portraits of shoes, foot history" arrived in Russia

The exhibition opened at the beginning of 2010 at the International Museum of Shoes in France, then went to Asian countries: the Yuchengco Museum in the Philippines, the Bangkok Design Center, and the Seoul Art Museum. In 2010, she reached Russia, taking place in four cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara and Perm.

Curator of the exhibition Yves Saburen says: “I conceived it two years ago as a dialogue between old and new. It is not difficult to demonstrate the achievements of the French in the art of sewing shoes, but the idea of ​​presenting all the skills of our shoe masters in the context of contemporary art seemed to me quite original. He began to select exhibits based on their form, matter, technical features and historical significance. And here I want to pay tribute to the chief curator of the International Footwear Museum in Roman Marie-Joseph Bossan-Picot: she put at my disposal 62 pairs of shoes capable of "telling" the history of footwear in the XNUMXth – XNUMXst centuries.

I did not strive to make a French project for the French: I was always interested in the history and culture of other countries and civilizations. Therefore, I willingly use traditional shoes from Turkey, the African continent, Latin America as exhibits. In addition, when bringing an exhibition to a particular country, I try to include local works of art and shoe samples in the exhibition. Thus, the Russian Ethnographic Museum kindly provided me with seven pairs of shoes that I could only dream of: Siberian felt boots, Mongolian sandals. But your famous sandals are already featured at the exhibition! "

Wanting to emphasize the specifics of this or that couple, Yves Saburen divided the exhibits into five large groups: "Baroque and Rock and Roll", "Sensual and Relaxed", "Sports and Nature", "Ah, these eccentricities!", "Politics and pomposity".

The first group unites "historical" footwear: French women's and men's shoes of the XNUMXth century, decorated with rich embroidery, ribbons and laces, Sudanese sandals of the XNUMXth century.

Among the "Sensual and relaxed" special attention should be paid to the famous two-tone "pumps" by Coco Chanel, created in 1957: closed, with low heels and with a black toe, they visually reduce the length of the foot, making it more graceful (Raymond Massaro, whose family this couple was created, in September they will first come to Russia).

Fans of "sporty and natural" style will be delighted to find shoes made of natural materials, North American Indian moccasins and even Adidas sneakers at the exhibition!

But lovers of all kinds of eccentricities will like Moorish and Japanese shoes, Bolivian sandals with a sole from a car tire and a series of miniature sandals made of paper.

Group Politics and Pomp will make you look at shoes as a kind of ritual. This also includes "dance" shoes: the famous "Repetto" ballet flats, invented by Rosa Repetto for her son, dancer Roland Petit, and became cult footwear for such movie and pop stars as Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve and Patricia Kaas. In addition, you will see Karl Lagerfeld's pistol-heel sandals and legendary models Roger Vivier, Raymond Massaro and Charles Jourdan.

French designer Roger Vivier, the only one whose name was placed next to his Christian Dior, went down in history as the inventor of hairpins. In 1954 he made a real revolution by inventing shoes with the thinnest heel - stiletto heels 7–8 cm high. These shoes marked the beginning of a whole series of stilettos that became a symbol of the era.

On the basis of the stiletto heel, in 1959, the "shock" heel was born - a thin, arched outward arc. A creation that defied the laws of gravity has been compared to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was no longer just shoes, but a real "cold weapon" of female emancipation, the first victims of which were carpets and parquet floors. According to the women's magazine Aurore, until 1952, shoe fashion did not exist. Shoes made according to the same canons could not be an object of fantasy. And if today we are used to the fact that shoes change shape and color from season to season, we owe this to Roger Vivier.

French designers own many discoveries in the field of advertising and marketing of shoes.

Thus, it was Charles Jourdan who in the 1930s became the first designer whose footwear advertisements appeared in fashion magazines. In the 1970s, Guy Bourdin's famous advertising session for Charles Jourdan (the most famous photograph is a chalk silhouette of a woman on the pavement and a pair of luxurious shoes) made a splash. Shooting surreal scenes, Bourdin made shoes a part of a story, witty and mysterious. Jourdan organized an army of salesmen who sold his hand-made shoes all over France, and he, in turn, supported them with a nationwide advertising campaign, which was a novelty in those years. After World War II, Jourdan was one of the first to diversify his business, adding a line of cheap shoes to his main collection. He replicated the simple design in great numbers and in a variety of colors, thus laying the foundations for the finished shoe industry. In 1958, the best-selling shoe model in the country was the Maxim ballroom shoes, with low heels, a square toe and a satin bow. In the 1960s, Charles Jourdan began collaborating with another shoemaker, André Perugia, who brought glamor and luxury to his models. In the 1970s, the French brand was a fetish along with Yves Saint Laurent clothing. Unfortunately, the Charles Jourdan company gradually fell into decay and in 2002 was declared bankrupt with debts, which at that time were estimated at $ 9 million. In 2008, the brand was bought by one of the largest European holdings - the Royer Group. In 2009, after Alexandra Neal, ex-designer of Balenciaga and Celine, became the designer of the brand, there was hope for a revival of the brand.

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The value of French shoes for history

The French king Louis XIV first introduced fashion to boots. Then they had wide shafts and lapels, trimmed with lace.

Rosa Reppeto is considered one of the creators of ballet shoes. Having sewed dance shoes for her son, the legendary dancer Roland Petit, she then adjusted her mass production.

Charles Jourdan was the first to place shoe advertising in glossy magazines and the first to organize a national advertising campaign.

Roger Vivier created revolutionary shoes with the thinnest heel - stiletto heels, which marked the beginning of an entire era.

Christian Louboutin turned the red sole into a symbol of high style (by the way, it appeared thanks to nail polish. The designer wanted to add some bright stain to the shoes, and only varnish was at hand).

According to Russian statistics, France ranks eighth in terms of trade turnover among European countries - Russia's main trade partners. Russian-French trade is characterized by high dynamics: in 2001-2008, the trade turnover between our countries increased more than fivefold. However, the global financial crisis halted its growth rates: in 2009, trade decreased by 2008% ($ 22,8 billion) compared to 3,3. Among the EU countries, the drop in turnover was more significant - 41%

Diplomatic relations between Russia and France were established in the 1717 year, when Peter I signed the credentials of the first Russian ambassador to France

In 2009, Russia imported petroleum products, metals, wood, cars and vehicles to France. France in turn supplied to our country cars, chemical products (including pharmaceuticals and perfumes), food and agricultural raw materials

Significant events of 2010 of the year

the exhibition “Holy Russia”, unique in terms of volume and quality of exhibits, in the Louvre (March 2 - May 24); the celebration of the Day of Russia and the opening of the Russian national exhibition on June 12 in Paris; Russian tour of the "Comedie Francaise" troupe (September); a concert of French music on Vasilievsky Spusk (September 4–5); exhibition "The Art of Living in French" in the Moscow Manege (October). Gala concert of Russian and French ballet stars at the Bolshoi Theater in December