Considered the inventor of the stiletto heel and wedge sole, Roger Vivier has worn many celebrities, from Elizabeth Taylor to Marlene Dietrich, including Queen Elizabeth II, whose foot he dressed in a kid goat shoe. 'gold garnished with three thousand garnets, for his coronation, June 2, 1953.
Born in Paris in 1907, this autodidact made his debut as an extra at the Théâtre de Belleville, before devoting himself to shoe design.
In 1924, he began to study sculpture at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, which he abandoned two years later for shoemaking.
Before working for Christian Dior and his New Look in the 1940s, he opened his first workshop in 1937 rue Royale in Paris and worked for major manufacturers of the time, including Bally and François Pinet.
In 1938, Roger Vivier notably produced for F. Pinet a collection in the colors of English royalty. To celebrate the Entente Cordiale between France and England, he designed two pairs of shoes for Princesses Elisabeth and Margareth. On this occasion, he brought up to date the iconic Bobine heel patented by François Pinet in 1854.