The I.P.F.O. (Identified Pilfered Fashion Object) column returns today with a brief focus on shoes and in particular on designs inspired by André Perugia.
During his career Perugia created very iconic footwear. Born in Nice in 1893 from Italian parents (his father was a shoemaker), as a young man Perugia proved he had enough talent to create extremely original shoes that subverted the traditional footwear canons.
Soon he conquered the heart of the ladies who spent their winter time in Nice, though his success arrived when he met Poiret.
The French couturier was looking for very colourful accessories to complete some of his looks and turned to Perugia for help.
Poiret was so enthusiastic about the designs Perugia created that he asked him to move to Paris to work on exclusive shoes for his maison.
The collaboration between Perugia and Poiret was launched after the First World War, and the shoe designer also opened his own shop in Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
Among his clients there were many stars of the Folies Bergère and movie
actresses such as Pola Negri and Mistinguette.
Some of the design Perugia created were actually named after the most famous actresses of those times: for Josephine Baker the designer created a turban-shaped sandal; for Gloria Swanson he designed lace covered heels while he dedicated to Rita Hayworth a pair of court shoes with crystal-studded ribbons.
Perugia also experimented with the structure of the shoes, reducing one part and widening another, playing with proportions and balances, creating bizarrely shaped heels and surreal effects that won him Elsa Schiaparelli’s admiration.
Perugia is still a strong influence for contemporary footwear designers: there were echoes of his 1950 Fernand Légér-inspired heels designed as a tribute to the industrial age, in Comme des Garçons' gold shoes with trompe l'oeil toes.
His 1931 fish pump, a tribute to French cubist artist Georges Braque and designed to go to the swimming pool or the beach, reappeared instead in the Spring/Summer 2010 collection of Brazilian brand Amapô (as photographed by Face Hunter Yvan Rodic).
There are actually further surrealist echoes in the zipper designs of the brand’s Autumn/Winter 2010 collection, but also hints at Elsa Schiaparelli in the designs featuring newspaper prints and exaggerated leg of mutton sleeves.
São Paulo Fashion Week kicks off in four days’ time, so we will know soon if Amapô is into further surrealist inspirations for the Spring/Summer 2011 season.
In the meantime, is anybody up to recreate Perugia’s 1929 "masked" sandal?
Amapô’s lines are available from Surface to Air São Paulo.
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