All About Shoes

The name may have an Anglo-Saxon ring, but the luxury shoemaking company J. M. Weston is most definitely French. Founded in Limoges in 1891 by Edouard Blanchard, the company chose the Weston name after Weston, Massachusetts, where Edouard's son Eugène Blanchard traveled in 1904 to study Goodyear stitching techniques and shoemaking in different widths. Known for their exquisite craftsmanship, Weston shoes come in 3 to 7 widths per half size, all with soft calfskin linings. Since 2001, designer Michel Perry has put a new spin on the classic shoes, creating contemporary lines and regularly updating the collection-his latest: Les Souples. The price tag is hefty-basic models start at $600 and others can climb up to more than $2,000 for crocodile-but there's a reason: it takes eight weeks and 150 to 190 different steps for master craftsmen, who've been trained for decades, to fashion a Weston shoe from unmarked, untreated leather. But it's said they can last for life.


You don't have to be a famous dancer to wear Repettos, although Repetto ballet shoes have graced the dancing feet of stars including Béjart, Nureyev and Carolyn Carlson. The family saga began on Paris's Rue de la Paix in 1947, when Rose Repetto first created dance shoes for her son, dancer and choreographer Roland Petit, and then branched out to making a full range of dance attire. In 1956 young dancer Brigitte Bardot asked Rose to design street shoes as light and pleasant as dance footwear-but sexier. Rose did, and the French actress immortalized her Repetto scarlet "Cinderella" ballerina flats in the movie that made her famous, Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman. The legendary brand is now available to all-500,000 pairs were manufactured in 2006. Repetto fans include Kate Moss, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Catherine Deneuve, Céline Dion and Hillary Clinton-as well as the many anonymous shoppers who flock to the Paris boutique where everything started. On its 60th anniversary this year, Repetto set up a Danse pour la Vie foundation in partnership with UNESCO to support projects using dance as an educational tool. One of its missions is to equip children in dance schools it selects around the world with ballet slippers, pointe shoes, tutus and tights-to help make their dancing dreams come true.

Source: The Connexion

Nous avons de nouvelles conceptions de Ralph Lauren en ce moment ainsi venir chez Vetements De Marque Online.