Monday, March 28, 2011

1969 | [NOT] GENUINE LEATHER | DU PONT'S CORFAM AS SEEN BY ANDREA PFISTER AND ROGER VIVIER PLUS A GUEST APPEARANCE FROM FERRAGAMO

A New Material
Probably the most comfortable thing to wear will be Corfam, a new material that looks like leather but is not a substitute for it. It is rather an entirely new concept in shoe materials: it is lightweight, waterproof yet porous, soft yet can't lose its shape, and needs no breaking in. Its coming was first announced in this column back in October, and some Corfam shoes are indeed now in stores, but until completion of a plant now a-building, the supply is sorely limited by what the pilot plant is able to turn out. 
Therefore retail stocks of it are spotty, that is, limited choice not only of styles and colors, but, and infinitely more serious, limited ranges of sizes. Since Corfam doesn't "give" the shoes have to be fitted very precisely. You may be lucky and find just what you want, but I'll hold off featuring them until I can be sure you can be fitted. 
Berta Mohr
The Herald Statesman, Yonkers, NY | March 13, 1964

1969 | Golo boots & Corfam | Detail
Source:ebay

1969 | Nato nel 1963, il Corfam era un'alternativa sintetica della pelle, su cui la Du Pont spese enormi somme in ricerca e pubblicità. Perfetto o quasi dal punto di vista estetico, oltre che poco traspirante, il materiale mancava della morbidezza tipica della pelle naturale e ben presto l'utilizzo per le calzature venne abbandonato. L'estremo tentativo per recuperare credibilità fu effettuato coinvolgendo due stelle affermate come Roger Vivier  (che lo stava utilizzando dal 1965) e Andrea Pfister per l'utilizzo in fascia alta. Nel 1971 il brevetto del Corfam venne venduto ad una ditta polacca.

1969 | Launched in 1963 the Corfam was a synthetic substitute for leather. Du Pont invested a huge amount of money in research and marketing but the material lacked the leather flexibility and soon was dismissed as cheap. The high-end use in footwear was the very last chance but not even Andrea Pfister nor Roger Vivier (who was experimenting the material since 1965) could do nothing about the doomed material. The Corfam patent was sold in 1971 to a Polish firm. 


Italics text by Bertha Mohr | The Herald Statesman, Yonkers - NY - August 27, 1969


1969 | Andrea Pfister for Patou | Corfam
Patou 50th Anniversary

1969 | Andrea Pfister for Patou
Source: The Herald Statesman | August 1969

Chains are the newest liked trimming on many of the high-risers. Andrea Pfister, the unlikely named young man who is also Patou's shoe designer, trims his ankle boots with heavy gold chains.


1969 | Andrea Pfister for Patou | Corfam
Patou 50th Anniversary

1969 | Andrea Pfister for Patou
Source: The Herald Statesman | August 1969

1969 | Andrea Pfister for Patou | Corfam
Patou 50th Anniversary

Paris shoe designers are going into many faces of Corfam in a big way. Unlike some of our top Americans who continue to turn their noses up at this man made material, which is difficult to understand since it feels feather-light to walk in and keeps its shape indefinitely.


1969 | Roger Vivier
Corfam Phyton

1969 | Roger Vivier
Corfam

1969 | Roger Vivier for Yves St. Laurent
Source: The Herald Statesman | August 1969

1969 | Roger Vivier for Mme Gres
Corfam

1969 | Roger Vivier for Mme Gres
Source: The Herald Statesman | August 1969

1969 | Roger Vivier for Chombert
Corfam pearlized cobra texture

… the ankle boot that looks like high-button shoes, in a pearlized cobra texture, he did for Mme. Chombert, the fur couturier.


1969 | Roger Vivier for Chombert
Source: The Herald Statesman | August 1969

Tra i nomi creati dalla Du Pont per i vari modelli di Corfam spiccavano il Mocco Crocco (?), il cobra marmorizzato (??) e tutte le varianti possibili dell'alligatore: Super'Gator, Duo'Gator e Baby'Gator. 
Disprezzare il marketing é un dovere.

Du Pont's choice for the Corfam catalog/palette was peculiar: Mocco Crocco (?), marble cobra (??) and alligator galore (Super'Gator, Duo'Gator and Baby'Gator).
MKTG is a four letter word.


CORFAM BABY 'GATOR



FOOTNOTE
The last known use of Du Pont's Corfam from Andrea Pfister for the 1971 Spring/Summer Patou Collection, while Ferragamo gave it a try back in March 1967.


1971 Spring/Summer | Andrea Pfister for Patou
Corfam adieu!

1967 | Ferragamo At Saks Fifth Avenue, Chicago
The Near-magic of Corfam ©. Indeed!
Source: Chicago Tribune (March 28, 1967)