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

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Fashion News: Spring Shopping in Paris

In 2001, the collaboration between Louis Vuitton's creative director Marc Jacobs and American fashion designer and artist Stephen Sprouse resulted in handbags covered with brightly-colored graffiti-like scrawl reading Louis Vuitton Paris instead of the famous LV monogram. Initially the bags were intended only for display, but they provoked such an explosion of fashion lust that they became instant It Bags that every fashion follower and celebrity on the planet absolutely had to have. Sprouse died in 2004, but über-designer Jacobs has now created a limited-edition capsule collection for Vuitton based on Sprouse's original designs. Leggings, trainers, scarves, bags and bracelets are daubed with graffiti logos and swirling rose motifs in this season's flashiest colors, including electric pink.

Meanwhile, another French luggage and leather goods specialist, Longchamp, has adopted a surrealist stance with a delightfully cheeky nod to Belgian artist René Magritte, who famously wrote Ceci n'est pas une pipe on his drawing of a pipe. The French brand's spring/summer 2009 collection includes a minimalist canvas shopping tote emblazoned with a drawing of a handbag and the ironic little twist Ceci est un IT BAG.

Will It Bags soon give way to the It Shoe? A change in fashion leather seems afoot. After designing an effigy of himself as a sunglass-wearing teddy bear for Steiff, Karl Lagerfeld has embarked upon another unexpected collaboration, creating a limited edition of summer sandals for Repetto, the French dancewear company, founded in 1947 by the mother of choreographer Roland Petit, that has now branched out into ready-to-wear. Lagerfeld's new patent leather sandals-in the form of towering 4-inch platform heels or more comfortable flats-come complete with detachable leather "tutus" around the ankle. They'll be available starting April 9, and are expected to pirouette right off the shelves.

At the same time, French shoe designer Michel Perry has come up with a novel way of celebrating Barack Obama's arrival in the White House. Putting his own inimitable spin on the Stars and Stripes, Perry has designed a pair of eye-catching sandals, named Vegas, which rework the American flag as foot art.

For luxury shopping with a clear conscience, Dalia and Rose, a multi-brand concept store, is set to open in Paris at the end of March. The boutique, which showcases the latest upscale trends in ethical fashion, lifestyle and design, is the brainchild of Clélia Moretton, a former model now on a mission to promote organic materials and 100% hand-crafted products. With her sharp eye for fashion, Clélia has tracked down a brilliant selection of up-and-coming labels including Camilla Norback, a Swedish designer working with organic silk, organza and cotton; Pachacuti, which claims to sell the world's first fair-trade panama hats; and ethical jewelry by Nikki Butler, a South African designer whose intricate beaded creations, under the label Nikki b, have already been snapped up by the likes of Cameron Diaz and Britney Spears. Dalia and Rose also stock French Touch shoes-adorable ballerina flats that have been ethically sourced-and luxurious alpaca accessories hand-made by fair-trade co-operatives in Bolivia.

Source: France Today

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