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| 1951 | André Perugia for I.Miller | detail Photograph: Nina Leen Source: Google Arts & Culture/LIFE Photo Collection |
Per evidenti motivi André Perugia é considerato tra i migliori designer degli anni '20 e '30, se non addirittura il migliore. Quindi é strano che la sua produzione successiva sia così poco conosciuta (scarpe artistiche escluse).
For obvious reasons André Perugia is considered among the best designers of the 20's and 30's, if not THE best. Trouble is: his later production goes almost unnoticed (artistic shoes not included).
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1951 | I. Miller ad
Photograph by Erwin Blumenfeld
Design & Patent by André Perugia
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Questo sandalo per esempio: una forma sinuosa e semplice con un meraviglioso tacco 10 - brevettato - mai visto prima. Anche la pubblicità I.Miller é semplice ed ingegnosa: nell'immagine riflessa si intuisce che il tacco é una barra sottile.
Like this very sandal for instance: a simple and beautiful shape plus the gorgeous four-inch patented heel. Even the ad is as simple as ingenious: the mirrored image shows that the heel is a sliver and not a needle.
Like this very sandal for instance: a simple and beautiful shape plus the gorgeous four-inch patented heel. Even the ad is as simple as ingenious: the mirrored image shows that the heel is a sliver and not a needle.
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| October 15, 1951 | LIFE Magazine André Perugia for I.Miller Photograph: Nna Leen Source: LIFE magazine |
Un esemplare di questo sandalo é custodito presso il Museo Internazionale della Calzatura di Romans, mentre la pubblicità I. Miller e la foto apparsa su LIFE sono le uniche disponibili (quest'ultima anche ripubblicata dal libro "Vintage Shoes" di Caroline Cox (2008 | De Agostini). Ecco quindi che i documenti del brevetto 1952 assumono particolare rilevanza.
A model of this the sandal is kept at the Muséee International De La Chaussure (Romans, France) while the I. Miller ad and the LIFE photograph are the only images available, the latter also published on "Vintage Shoes" (Caroline Cox | 2008 Harper Collins). That's the reason why the 1952 patent documents are so important.
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1952 | André Perugia | U.S. Patent No. 166,868 | Fig. 2
Filed March 14, 1952 - Granted May 27, 1952
Source: Google Patents |
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1952 | André Perugia | U.S. Patent No. 166,868 | Fig. 1
Filed March 14, 1952 - Granted May 27, 1952Source: Google Patents |
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| 1951 | André Perugia for I.Miller Photograph: Nina Leen Source: Google Arts & Culture/LIFE Photo Collection |
TWO AND TWO TOGETHER
The original LIFE caption of the Perugia sandal didn't mention photographer Nina Leen, 65 years later it is the other way around. However, Mrs. Leen was properly crdited were no one is looking, the colophon; no such luck for Perugia these days on the LIFE Photo Collection.
The original LIFE caption of the Perugia sandal didn't mention photographer Nina Leen, 65 years later it is the other way around. However, Mrs. Leen was properly crdited were no one is looking, the colophon; no such luck for Perugia these days on the LIFE Photo Collection.
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1952 | U.S. Patent No. 166,868 | Description
André Perugia - Italian citizen - for I. Miller
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F O O T N O T E S
[01]
Fun fact: as much as we like and respect the French, as of March 1952 - André Perugia was still an Italian citizen. NICE to know it.
Un fatto curioso: per quanto amiamo e rispettiamo i cugini francesi, non ci dispiace affatto annotare che - almeno sino a marzo 1952 - André Perugia era ancora cittadino italiano.
Fun fact: as much as we like and respect the French, as of March 1952 - André Perugia was still an Italian citizen. NICE to know it.
[02]
Il tacco di Perugia é tra i più belli e seducenti mai realizzati. Lo stesso Perugia lo ha riutilizzato, ma é poi finito inspiegabilmente nell'oblio sino agli anni '90 quando Bernard Figueroa prima e Manolo Blahnik poi, ne hanno realizzato una variante.
The patented heel is among the most iconic and glamourous heels of all the time. Perugia himself used it again for I. Miller but it went into oblivion until the 90s when Bernard Figueroa and later Manolo Blahnik both made a variation.
Poi, all'improvviso, é arrivato Bruno Frisoni (Roger Vivier) che combina il tacco Perugia con Figueroa/Blahnik e riusce persino ad impressionare la stampa.
The patented heel is among the most iconic and glamourous heels of all the time. Perugia himself used it again for I. Miller but it went into oblivion until the 90s when Bernard Figueroa and later Manolo Blahnik both made a variation.
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| 1994 | Bernard Figueroa
1999 | Manolo Blahnik
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Poi, all'improvviso, é arrivato Bruno Frisoni (Roger Vivier) che combina il tacco Perugia con Figueroa/Blahnik e riusce persino ad impressionare la stampa.
And then, out of the blue, Roger Vivier's Bruno Frisoni combined the Perugia heel with Figueroa/Blahnik's and got a round of applause by the press.
"…the creative director Bruno Frisoni has taken iconic Vivier heels and made them even more modern and divine.""All the shoes and boots (of the Rendez-Vous collection) featured a high, thin "vertigo" heel buttressed by a thin golden rod, "it's like jewellery," Frisoni said."
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| 2011-2012 | Roger Vivier via Bruno Frisoni |
"Iconico tacco Vivier"? "Vertigo"? Facciamo così: proponiamo un affare ai cugini. Noi ci riprendiamo Perugia e voi vi tenete Frisoni. Può andare?
"Iconic Vivier heels"? "Vertigo"? Fine then. So, let's make a deal with our French cousins: we take Perugia back and you can keep Frisoni. How's that?
"Iconic Vivier heels"? "Vertigo"? Fine then. So, let's make a deal with our French cousins: we take Perugia back and you can keep Frisoni. How's that?
[3]
Non va dimenticato Robert Clergerie, ma in questo caso potrebbe esserci una spiegazione. Clergerie ha lavorato per Charles Jourdan come direttore del marchio Xavier Danaud e quindi con accesso all'archivio di André Perugia custodito dalla Charles Jourdan.
And what about Robert Clergerie? Well, he was hired by Charles Jourdan to run the Xavier Danaud brand before going solo. In such position he might have accessed the whole André Perugia archive held at Charles Jourdan.
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1998 | Robert Clergerie
Source: MET Museum
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Solo una supposizione? A sentire Clergerie, parrebbe di no:
"Nelle mie creazioni rispetto sempre il principio imparato dal maestro André Perugia. Un vestito lo si porta, ma per la scarpa é vero il contrario: é lei a portare te. É lì tutta la difficoltà."
Could it be? It could, based on Clergerie's own quote:
"In my creations, I always respect the basic principle, learned from the famous boot maker André Perugia, that you carry a garment, but for a shoe is different: the shoe carries you, and there lies all the difficulty."
HATS OFF TO MR. ROBERT CLERGERIE.
ANDRÉ PERUGIA
BOTTIER
I N D E X
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| 1994 | Robert Clergerie Source: Bata Shoe Museum |
