PARIS — Roger Vivier is taking personalization to the next level with the launch of a collection of one-of-a-kind shoes.
Creative director Gherardo Felloni has expanded the brand’s ultra-exclusive Pièce Unique range of handbags and embroidered vests, traditionally presented during Paris Couture Week, to include for the first time.
His fall 2026 collection, “L’Atelier des Papillons,” is based on the house’s signature concave Choc heel and one of founder Roger Vivier’s favorite themes: the butterfly.
Felloni said the Pièce Unique collection felt like a natural evolution, following the recent launch of a made-to-order service at Vivier’s new boutique on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris. In terms of design, it offered him unprecedented range.
“To have the possibility to work totally free on a pair of shoes is not something that happens every day in a shoe designer’s life,” he told WWD.
Each design is produced in a size 37 prototype for the house’s archive. A single pair will then be made to the client’s specifications, allowing Felloni to work with new materials and techniques in a more experimental way.
A sketch for Roger Vivier’s fall 2026 “L’Atelier des Papillons” Pièce Unique collection.
Courtesy of Roger Vivier
“Even if I choose, for example, real river pearls to do an embroidery, I don’t have to check if there’s a quantity to make a big production, so in a way it’s easier,” he explained.
“It’s going to be one woman that will like this in the world. When you need to do a production, you need to have more of a 360-degree approach. These kind of shoes are more peculiar so for me, it’s a totally different approach,” Felloni said.
While the designs flowed at warp speed, bringing them to life has been a lengthier process. “Nobody does it, really, so it was a big challenge and we’re finally ready,” he noted.
Felloni started with the handbags to establish a blueprint for the embroideries, and then designed the corresponding pumps, peep-toes and sandals — comparing the process to the way Vivier mirrored the haute couture creations of designers such as Christian Dior or Yves Saint Laurent.
While Vivier was a pioneer in many respects, his approach was artisanal, while Felloni can tap into more advanced technology, such as 3D printing.
“Today we have more space to explore, because the techniques are more sophisticated,” he noted. “So it’s a really interesting project to take inspiration from the past, but with the techniques that we have today.”
Roger Vivier butterfly shoe for Christian Dior, 1963.
Gérard Uféras/Courtesy of Roger Vivier
The designer leaned into the butterfly’s metamorphosis with shapeshifting designs that augment the shoes and swirl around the foot: think exotic tendrils, sculpted metal flowers, and butterflies made from intricate bead embroidery, hand-painted feathers, organza, macramé or mother-of-pearl.
“They are a little bit ‘tremblant,’ like ‘tremblant’ jewels, so if somebody walks in these shoes, they’re going to move,” he said of the latter.
Some elements refer to archival designs. For example, several of the shoes sprout little antennae, a nod to a black pump with a graphic spiral that Vivier made for Dior.
Others push the brand into new territory, such as the first Pièce Unique sneakers: couture interpretations of the Viv’ Run, the running shoe Felloni designed when he joined the house in 2018.
He believes the women who collect Pièce Unique bags and vests will embrace the experience of ordering a shoe.
“We have this family of customers that are really close to the maison. They know our heritage,” he said. “Probably it sounds a little bit weird for people that think about business or about money, but I think it’s a beautiful approach for fashion to have this kind of space to do something that is really unique.”
A sketch for Roger Vivier’s fall 2026 “L’Atelier des Papillons” Pièce Unique collection.
Courtesy of Roger Vivier
