1921 | Tokio model by André Perugia
Drawing from Perugia catalogue
Source: Bertrand Heyraud "5000 ans de Chaussures" Parkstone Press 1994
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I balli in maschera erano una vera passione dell’alta società Parigina nella prima parte del Novecento. Paul Poiret, lo scopritore di André Perugia, fu un maestro in materia: divenne di fama internazionale la sua festa in stile persiano denominata “le Mille e due Notti” realizzata nel 1911 con la collaborazione di diversi artisti tra cui i pittori Guy Pierre Fauconnet e Luc-Albert Moreau e le ballerine Régina Badet, Carlotta Zambelli e la russa Trouhanova. Ma, come ricordò poi Poiret nel suo libro di memorie “Vestendo l’epoca” negli anni successivi anche la Costa Azzurra, altra sede tipica delle classi più agiate, non mancava di occasioni:
“Organizzai per Cornuché, a Cannes [Eugène Cornuché, 1868-1926, gestore del Casino, NdT], una serie di feste di cui gli habitués si ricorderanno sempre. Bisognava trovare ogni settimana un pretesto nuovo per richiamare una clientela tentata da attrazioni diverse da ogni parte della costa. Ci fu una festa dell’Oro, una festa di Parigi, una festa di New York ecc. e ciascuna offrì il pretesto a una adeguata distribuzione di accessori che ci si accaparrava a dispetto della buona educazione che regnava ovunque.”
Paul Poiret
[Da "En habillant l'époque" trad. Irma Vivaldi]
The Parisian high society in the early twentieth century was fond of masquerade balls. Fashion designer Paul Poiret - the man who discovered André Perugia - was a master in the field: his Persian style feast called "the thousand and second night" became internationally acclaimed after being launched in 1911 with the help of various artists including painters Guy Pierre Fauconnet and Luc-Albert Moreau, the dancers Régina Badet, Carlotta Zambelli and the Russian Trouhanova. But in later years, even the French Riviera, another playground for the upper class, did not lack opportunities as Poiret himself remembered in his autobiography "King of Fashion":
“I also produced at Cannes, for Cornuche [Eugène Cornuche, 1868-1926, was the manager of the Casino, ed.], a series of fetes (parties) which will never be forgotten. I had to find each week a new way of attracting a clientele that was solicited throughout the whole coast by varied attractions. There was a Golden Fete, a Paris Fete, a New York Fete, etc . . . and each party served as a pretext for a distribution of appropriate accessories, immediately snatched, in spite of the good manners that reigned everywhere.”
Paul PoiretFrom: "King of Fashion: The Autobiography of Paul Poiret" V&A Publishing, 2009]
Paul Poiret and his mask
Source Vogue
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Il giovane Perugia, che in quegli anni era ancora a Nizza, iniziò a creare i suoi modelli per occasioni mondane come quelle. Ed ecco le punte “persiane” delle calzature - un richiamo al gusto orientale dell’epoca ben interpretato da Poiret - con un elemento decorativo destinato ad ampio successo nella carriera calzaturiera di Perugia: la maschera.
Still in Nice in those years, the young Perugia began to create his models for social events like that. And here are “Persian” shoes with curled toe, a reference to the oriental taste of the time, well played by Poiret, with a recurring - and successful - decorative element in the Perugia’s career: the mask.
Still in Nice in those years, the young Perugia began to create his models for social events like that. And here are “Persian” shoes with curled toe, a reference to the oriental taste of the time, well played by Poiret, with a recurring - and successful - decorative element in the Perugia’s career: the mask.
1920s Perugia's "Tokio" | Reproduction of the original 1921 design At DLM - Deutsches Ledermuseum Schuhmuseum | Offenbach DE Photo by Mirco De Cet Courtesy of the author |
Uno dei primi modelli in cui comparve questo elemento fu il “Tokio” del 1921, definito da Perugia stesso una "calzatura cinese": in capretto arancio (ma poteva essere realizzato in ogni nuance), una forma a punta all’insù e maschera dipinta a mano (forse con allusioni al teatro No giapponese), circondata da motivi floreali, un altro elemento tipico dello stile di Poiret .
One of the first models with the mask was the "Tokyo" in 1921. Perugia defined it a "Chinese shoe": in orange kidskin (but it could be made in every nuance), curled toe and hand-painted with a mask, perhaps an allusion to the Japanese Noh theater, surrounded by floral motifs, another typical element of Poiret’s style.
One of the first models with the mask was the "Tokyo" in 1921. Perugia defined it a "Chinese shoe": in orange kidskin (but it could be made in every nuance), curled toe and hand-painted with a mask, perhaps an allusion to the Japanese Noh theater, surrounded by floral motifs, another typical element of Poiret’s style.
1921 | MASKS BY ANDRE' PERUGIA
PART 2
PART 3
ANDRE PERUGIA
D O S S I E R
1922 | Cécile Sorel entering the masquerade ball "Grand Prix" Vogue France |