ANIMAL MAGIC: Gherardo Felloni delved into Roger Vivier’s archives with his Pièce Unique collection of one-off pieces for spring, bringing to life animal motifs explored by the house’s founder in colorful contemporary creations showcasing a plethora of precious craft techniques.
For past Pièce Unique collections, Felloni has channeled themes including the floral and insect worlds and Parisian architecture, but it was the first time he had really dug into animal patterns from the archives, which Vivier began to explore from the 1960s onward. “It’s a part of the archive that I never explored so much,” said Felloni as he presented the colorful designs from his office at the brand’s new Left Bank headquarters, which opened in October, against a backdrop of mood boards featuring archival sketches inspired by the graphic pelts of creatures including leopards, zebras and giraffes.
The starting point for the 13 pieces in the collection was the Efflorescence Jewel bag, with its solid loop handle and buckled clasp. Its satin canvas provided a playground of creativity for three-dimensional techniques including multiple layers of embroidery, feather- and metalwork, hand painting and embellishments in crystal and semiprecious stones to create lively, animated pieces evoking the motion of living creatures, some in unexpected shades like pink, green and blue.
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“They’re quite complicated, there’s many layers of work, but that’s why they look so contemporary, because there’s a mixture of techniques you don’t usually find,” said Felloni.
Each piece required more than 60 hours of work.
For the Léopard de Nuit design in black and gold, large metal spots were individually embroidered to the base then overlayered with dark beads. It featured separate strands of beading that stood out from the surface, imitating animal fur.
Tigre Royal, a terra-cotta design, was embroidered with tiny translucent sequins, giving it an iridescent effect, before the application of graduated stripes of beading and delicate fringing in black and orange. Its striped handle was finished with enamel and black strass.
On the beige base of Portrait de Jaguar, the leopard’s spots were hand-painted before the application of a multitude of layers of embroidered beading.
For further models, the zebra’s stripes were articulated in punctured silver-plated metal over a black satin base, in pink and white sequins, or in royal blue satin embroidered with black crystals and undulating black feathers.
The presentation during couture week coincided with the launch of a new monograph of the house published by Rizzoli, as reported, with guests invited to explore archival designs alongside Felloni’s creations in an exhibition and to see the shoes that inspired the Pièce Unique designs in the basement archive space, fittingly housed in a former chapel.
