REMEMBERING GRUAU [RENATO ZAVAGLI] ON THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH [2/3]

2013 | René Gruau tribute by

Vogue Japan

Source: René Gruau

1965 René Gruau | Astre Shoes

Source: hPrints

René Gruau | Bon Jour Cherie (Litograph)

Source: Mutual Art

1983 | René Gruau | Garolini
Town & Country Magazine
Source: Hoodoo That Voodoo

1984 | René Gruau | Garolini

Source: hPrints

1984 | René Gruau for Garolini (Vogue US)

Source: Pretty My World

1985 | René Gruau | Garolini

Source: eBay

1985 | René Gruau | Garolini

Source: eBay

1986 | René Gruau for Garolini (Vogue US)

Source: Julian WIlliams Drawings

1985 | René Gruau | Fratelli Rossetti

Source: Bellezza da Vendere

1985 | René Gruau | Fratelli Rossetti

Source: hPrints

René Gruau and the Line of Beauty
At Irenebrination

Remembering GRUAU
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

REMEMBERING GRUAU [RENATO ZAVAGLI] ON THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH [1/3]

1947 | René Gruau | Bally Bottier

Source: hPrints

1947 | René Gruau | Bally Bottier

Source: hPrints

1951 | René Gruau | Christian Dior Stockings

Unpublished

Source: Galerie Bartsch & Chariau

1951 | René Gruau | Christian Dior Stockings

Source: Christian Erdmann

1954 | René Gruau | Christian Dior/Delman Shoes

Source: hPrints

1954 | René Gruau | Delman Shoes

Source: FIT | NY

1955 | René Gruau | International Textiles mag (Cover)

Source: Galerie Bartsch & Chariau

1960 | René Gruau | Christian Dior/Roger Vivier Shoes

Source: hPrints

1960 | René Gruau | Christian Dior Stockings

Source: VinMag

René Gruau and the Line of Beauty

At Irenebrination

Remembering GRUAU
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

1929 | MELE, NAPLES

1920 | Mele & C. | Naples

Drawing by Marcello Dudovich

Source: eBay

1951 | ANDRE PERUGIA | EVENING SANDAL WITH SATIN INNER BOOT

André Perugia, ad inizio 1951, si recò negli Stati Uniti per la collezione primavera-estate disegnata per I.Miller. La presentazione avvenne, secondo il New York Times, l'11 gennaio 1951. Per accompagnare la nuova collezione, Perugia portò con sé alcuni modelli originali creati nel corso degli anni. Alcuni giorni dopo, i quotidiani locali dedicarono maggiore attenzione ai modelli "storici". Nonostante la scarsa qualità della foto si riconoscono tra le altre: la scarpa "maschera" col tacco altissimo, (1949, datazione del museo di Roman; i coturni creati per Schiaparelli (1938), una variazione della décolleté di Eartha Kitt e la famosissima senza tacco (1937).

At the beginning of 1951 André Perugia went to the U.S. for the spring/summer collection designed for I.Miller. According to the New York Times, the showcase took place January 11, 1951. Along with the new collection, Perugia brought with it some original designs created over the years. A few days later, local newspapers devoted more attention to the historical models. Despite the poor quality of the photos  we can spot: the shoe "mask" with high heels, (from 1949 according to the Musée of Roman), the buskins created for Schiaparelli (1938), a variation of the décolleté for Eartha Kitt and the famous heelless shoe (1937).

1951 | André Perugia designs | Detail

Source: Tuscaloosa News - January 28, 1951 / St. Petersburg Independent - January 30, 1951

Delle scarpe raffigurate ce n'é una di particolare interesse (a destra nella foto qui sopra): un sandalo da sera portato con un rivestimento interno in seta rimovibile a piacimento: "per tener caldo il piede nel trasferimento", dice la didascalia. 

E se la descrizione vi ricorda qualcosa, avete ragione: 

Among the shoes shown there's one of particular interest (picture above, on the right): an evening sandal "with a satin inner boot which may be removed at will. It serves to keep the feet warm en-route" reads the caption. 

Now, if the description reminds you of something, you're right:

1951 | Ferragamo's Kimo/Spaghetti | French ad

Kimo is worn with the "Spaghetti" sandal

Source L'Officiel

Sull'idea di coprire il piede durante il tragitto, Perugia aveva già lavorato e successivamente brevettato un copriscarpa (1937). Non sappiamo se il modello portato a New York fosse nuovo o di anni precedenti. Sicuramente non è posteriore al deposito del brevetto del Kimo/spaghetti di Ferragamo (febbraio 1951) che tra l'altro era già andato incontro a controversie (rimosse dalla biografia ufficiale) circa l'originalità dell'idea.

Covering the foot during the journey with an overshoe was an idea Perugia developed and patented back in 1937. We can't say if the model brought to New York was new or made a few years back; it surely predates the filing of the Ferragamo Kimo/Spaghetti patent (February 1951) which, among other things, was going to be sued for plagiarism by the shoemaker Frattegiani (a fact removed from the official Ferragamo bio).

ANDRE PERUGIA
D O S S I E R

1888 | HENRI CHARLES GUERARD | THE ASSAULT OF THE SHOE

1888 | So Contemporary

The Assault of The Shoe by Henri Charles Guérard features a small group of Chinese men attacking ladies’ shoes.

1888 | Henri Charles Guérard | The Assault Of The Shoe

Etching, with open bite, in red and black on cream laid paper 167 x 252 mm (image)

Source: Art Institute of Chicago

1888 | Henri Charles Guérard | The Assault Of The Shoe

Etching, with open bite, in light red and black on cream laid paper 168 x 252 mm (image)

Source: Art Institute of Chicago

1888 | Henri Charles Guérard | The Assault Of The Shoe

Etching, with open bite, in black on cream laid paper 167 x 254 mm (image)

Source: Art Institute of Chicago

1888 | Henri Charles Guérard | The Assault Of The Shoe

Etching, with open bite, in light red and black on cream laid paper 110 x 210 mm (image)

Source: Art Institute of Chicago

HENRI CHARLES GUERARD (French / 1846-1897)

Henri Charles Guérard (also known as Henry Guérard, Henri-Charles Guérard, or Charles-Henri Guérard) was born Paris. His studio at 4, Avenue Frochot, just off Pigalle and the Boulevard de Clichy, was a welcoming haven for many artists in the Impressionist circle. Guérard started studying architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts, but gave this up to become a painter and printmaker. He was taught by Nicolas Berthon.

Guérard first exhibited at the Salon of 1870. Guérard regularly exhibited etchings and engravings at the Salon of the Société des Artistes Français, and was one of the founders of the Société des Peintres-Graveurs. Henri Guérard made his first prints in 1867, but did not take up etching seriously until the 1870s, when he contributed a number of striking Impressionist prints to the journal Paris à l'eau-forte, alongside his friend and fellow-Impressionist Norbert Goenuette. 

Henri Guérard was close to Édouard Manet; he posed with the actress Ellen Andrée for Manet's 1878 painting Au Café (in the Oscar Reinhart collection at Winterthur), and assisted Manet in making etchings. In 1879, Guérard married Manet's pupil Eva Gonzales. Guérard often posed for Eva too. She was devastated by the death of Manet and died herself the following day, while giving birth to her first child. Guérard subsequently married her sister Jeanne, who also features in many of Eva's paintings.

Source: Idbury Prints

SHOES & ART
1832 - 2011

CA 1890 | Henri Charles Guérard | Self Portrait

Preparing An Etching

Source: Art Institute of Chicago

1960 | ANDRE PERUGIA | THE WHITE/BLACK DÉCOLLETÉ

1960 | André Perugia
Source: ELLE magazine
Photograph by Peter Knapp

"Non si erano mai visti dei tacchi chiari sotto calzature scure. Se il prototipo sarà approvato, le donne per le strade sembreranno camminare con charme e precisione sulla punta dei piedi.

Non bianche e non nere, calzature che sono un po' un "esperimento". Proposte dal maestro bottier Perugia: in vernice nera + tacchi bianchi, in vernice bianca + tacchi neri.

In alto, calzature nere e bianche con fiocco in seta [Cédric]." 

Da ELLE magazine - The White/Black Summer Fashion 1960

"White heels under dark shoes: never seen before. If the prototype will be approved, we'll see women walking with charme and precision as tiptoeing.

Nor white, nor black; shoes like an experiment. A model from the maitre bottier Perugia: black patent leather + white heel, white patent leather + black heel.

Top: black & white shoes with silk bow (Cédric)" 

Original caption from ELLE magazine - The White/Black Summer Fashion 1960

1960 | André Perugia | White patent leather Décolleté

From the Charles Jourdan Collection

now at the Musée International de la Chaussure | Romans, France

Photograph by Christophe Villard

The Museum record reports: "Year 1958" and "Beige patent leather" (probably because time is merciless).

1960 | Patent by André Perugia
Insole detail

Photograph by Christophe Villard

FOOTNOTE

Il grande bottier Perugia, il cui nome è celebre nel campo dell’alta arte calzaturiera, ha momentaneamente abbandonato Cannes, dove stava scrivendo le proprie memorie e si dedicava alla pittura, per creare, presso Charles Jourdan, la collezione “Prestige”, presentata alla Stampa il mese scorso. Il grande creativo ha voluto che le donne fossero dotate di calzature morbide come guanti. Sopprime le cuciture, che spesso feriscono, e crea nuove forme che perlopiù sono in un pezzo unico. La verticale del tacco è spostata un po’ in avanti, ha un profilo slanciato e il suo equilibrio è dei più rigorosi. La collezione “Prestige” porta a tutte le donne eleganti una raffinatezza nuova al servizio del loro comfort.

L'Officiel de la Mode | 1963, September #497/498

The great bottier Perugia, whose name is famous in the field of high art footwear, has temporarily abandoned Cannes, where he was writing his memoirs, and he devoted himself to painting to create, at Charles Jourdan, the collection "Prestige" showcased last month. The great inventive designer wants the women equipped with footwear soft such as gloves. Suppresses the seams, which often cause wounds, and creates new cuts that are mostly in a single piece. The vertical heel, shifted a bit forward, has a sleek profile and its balance is the most stringent. The collection "Prestige" brings to all the stylish women a new refinement in the service of their comfort.

L'Officiel de la Mode | 1963, September #497/498

REVAMPED!

1963 | Charles Jourdan

Source: L'Officiel de la Mode #493-494, April 1963

The
André Perugia
D O S S I E R

1976-1982 | PAUL WUNDERLICH | A DEUX & SKULLSHOE

1982 | Paul Wunderlich | A Deux

Plastic And Leather String

Source: All About Shoes - 1994 Bata Shoe Organization

1982 | Paul Wunderlich | A Deux

White Plastic And Leather String

Source: Mutual Art

1982 | Paul Wunderlich | A Deux

Bronze

Source: 1stFibs

Paul Wunderlich | Skullshoe postcard

Source: Slang-King

1976 | Paul Wunderlich | Skullshoe

Source: Kunsthandel-Figge

1976 | Paul Wunderlich | Skullshoe Detail

Source: Kunsthandel-Figge

SHOES & ART
1832-2011

1939 | JAMES ARPAD | BEFORE AND AFTER THE GUGGENHEIM BUILDING

1939 | James Arpad | Model no. 463
From The Arpad collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Source: 100 Shoes, 2011 - Yale University Press

1959 | Guggenheim Museum
by Frank L. Wright

60's | Guggenheim hat by an unknown designer

Source: IRENEBRINATION

1976-1977 | Manolo Blahnik | The model Guge
Source: Vintage Shoes, 2008 Carlton

This futuristic design inspired by New York's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum leaves an impression of the foot floating in a classic court shoe. The straps echo Frank Lloyd Wright's spiral design for the exterior.

Tyne & Wear Museums

However, put into production 20 years later, the Guge model lost a sizable chunk of the drawing charme.

1997 | Manolo Blahnik
The model Guge
Source: Tyne & Wear Museums

SERENDIPITY | 1975 | JULES STAUBER (1920-2008) | LES CHAUSSURES DE MADAME

1975 | Jules Stauber
From: "Les Chaussures De Madame"
Source: All About Shoes - 1994, Bata Shoe Organization

1992 | Samuele Mazza per Pompili | Caterina
Wood And Brass
Source: Scarperentola

FOOTNOTE

1976 | Jules Stauber
Source:

THE ART OF WOVEN LEATHER

Bianca Maria Turconi, nel ricordare l'esperienza nel settore calzaturiero del padre, titolare del calzaturificio Olimpic Turconi di Legnano raccontava che:

La lavorazione delle scarpe estive che si usavano una volta, quelle intrecciate come il vimini, la facevano in casa solo le donne di Vanzago. Si portavano loro le pelli, o le strisce, a Vanzago e poi si andava a ritirare il lavoro finito.

Bianca Maria Turconi, daughter of the shoemaker Severino Turconi (Olimpic), remembers:

A special kind of processing for summer shoes, which was once in use, similar to woven wicker, was home-made only by women in Vanzago, Milan. The hides or the leather stripes were brought to them, then we picked up the finished work.

1970 | Vaccari | Detail

Bologna

Anche a Pogliano (che confina con Vanzago) erano i maestri di questo sistema di intreccio. Specializzata nella produzione delle strisce di pelle per queste lavorazioni era l'azienda della famiglia Chiesa, fondata da Aldo Chiesa (1892-1959) nel 1925 come "Fratelli Chiesa & Visetti".[1]

"L'azienda continuò a produrre guardoli per scarpe, un trafilato di corda rivestito di plastica per le stringhe di calzature e schienali di ferro e piattine di plastica per le prime automobili.(... ). Tullio Chiesa superò il padre nella produzione di filo di pelle senza giunture. Ci riuscì inventando una specie di taglierina ruotante con cui veniva tagliata l'intera pelle di Madras. Il pellame originario importato dall'India finiva alle concerie di Turbigo(...). Si produceva un filo di pelle largo 3,2 mm. Dai sette piedi e cinquanta di un pellame si riuscì a a produrre un filo lungo un centinaio di metri senza alcuna giuntura. Il filo poi passava alla smussatrice e poi alla lavorazione a un telaio a mano, del tipo di quello utilizzato nel tessile. Il filo di pelle costituiva l'ordito ed era usato anche per la trama in navetta. (...) 

Cito fra i clienti italiani di alta classe Trussardi di Milano e Magli di Bologna. (...) Tra le invenzioni di Tullio va ricordata la tomaia intrecciata a nido d'ape. (...) Un lavoro che era fatto a mano da personale femminile molto capace."

Aldo Chiesa in "Bachi, filande e telai. Opifici e Ciminiere"

A cura di Giancarlo Villa e Viviana Paleari - Famiglia e Società 2009

Even in Pogliano, bordering on Vanzago (Milan), masters of the woven leather could be found. The factory "Fratelli Chiesa & Visetti" - founded by Aldo Chiesa (1852-1959) in 1925 - was probably the most prominent. [1]

"The company continued to produce welts for shoes, a draw-wire rope coated with plastic for shoe strings and iron seatbacks and plastic strips for the first automobiles. Tullio Chiesa surpassed his father in the production of seamless leather thread. He succeeded inventing a kind of rotating cutter in which the entire Madras leather was cut. Leather originally imported from India and later processed in the tanneries of Turbigo (Milan). They could produce a single seamless leather thread, 3.2 mm wide and one hundred meters long from a single patch of seven and fifty feet. The thread then passed to the bevelling machine, then was weaved with a handloom, like in the textile industry. The leather thread was the warp and was also traveled as weft with the shuttle.

Among the high profile customers, Trussardi in Milan and Magli in Bologna. (...) Tullio also invented the upper woven honeycomb. (...) A job that was handmade by very capable female staff". 

Aldo Chiesa from "Bachi, filande e telai. Opifici e Ciminiere" ("Mills And Looms. Factories And Chimneys")

Edited by Giancarlo Villa And Viviana Paleari - Famiglia e Società, 2009

1968 | Mirabile

Parabiago, Milan

1968 | Mirabile | Detail

Parabiago, Milan

1970 | Vaccari

Bologna

1970 | Teens | A Rancir Division

Parabiago, Milan

1970 | BOL DOR by Enzio Cozzi

San Lorenzo di Parabiago | Milan

Footnote:

[1] L'azienda negli anni passò attraverso varie liquidazioni e rifondazioni con altri nomi. Divenne "Chiesa Tullio" nel 1936, che a metà anni '50 aveva una quindicina di dipendenti. Poi, dopo la morte di Aldo nel 1959, divenne "Aldo Chiesa degli Eredi Chiesa" (passò ai figli Tullio e Liliana e alla vedova Vittoria Pirola). Poi solo "Aldo Chiesa di Tullio Chiesa" dopo il recesso di Liliana e Vittoria. Questa ebbe sede a Pogliano in via Piave 18 fino al 1993. Dal 1986 era nata anche la Aldo chiesa Sas per la lavorazione dell'intrecciato e articoli affini.

Source:

Bachi, filande e telai. Opifici e Ciminiere - a cura di Giancarlo Villa e Viviana Paleari - Famiglia e Società 2009


SS33
The Parabiago Footwear District
DATABASE