Mad House
InStyle|June 2019

Roger Vivier’s new creative director, GHERARDO FELLONI, wants to seduce you with surprises. He’ll even sing opera

Eric Wilson
Mad House

For anyone who wishes to become the designer of famed accessories brand Roger Vivier, an obsessive appreciation for the 1967 fetish film Belle de Jour is practically a job requirement. In one scene of the Luis Buñuel–directed classic, Catherine Deneuve, playing a bored housewife who seeks employment in a brothel to fulfill her unorthodox fantasies, wears a black patent raincoat by Yves Saint Laurent and black shoes with a prominent buckle by Vivier, a design inspired by the extravagance of the Sun King, Louis XIV.

This important moment of Vivier’s storied history certainly appealed to Gherardo Felloni, who took on the mantle of creative director more than a year ago, filling the elegant shoes of longtime Vivier designer Bruno Frisoni. Though he had worked behind the scenes dreaming up footwear at Miu Miu since 2014 and at Dior under John Galliano and Raf Simons before that, Felloni was already well known in the industry for his creativity. Vivier was one of his idols, having invented many influential heel styles, including ones made of curved steel and a “ball of diamonds” shape favored by Marlene Dietrich. Felloni’s flamboyant slides decorated with fur and pearls for Miu Miu owed a debt to Vivier’s whimsical spirit.

“It’s quite funny that in the end I have the chance to work for this brand,” says Felloni, who arrived shortly after the 50th anniversary of Belle de Jour was celebrated with a revival of the original buckle design. “I really took a lot of inspiration from [Vivier] and his sense of humor. His aesthetic has always been something close to my own.”

This story is from the June 2019 edition of InStyle.

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This story is from the June 2019 edition of InStyle.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.