Several designers feature flowers appliqued on leather. Josephi of Delman, a milliner turned shoe designer, builds one shoe from a fabric rose, with petals forming the bulk of the design, the stem shaping the narrow heel. Only the sole is leather.
Gay PauleyUnited Press, New York | March 21, 1957
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1957 | Josephi/Delman | The Rose Petal Sandal
Source: Shoes Of Tomorrow | British Pathé
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1957 | Josephi of Delmam
Photograph: Karen Radkai
Source: Vogue
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A similar model - apparently not by Josephi - is kept at the Goldstein Museum Of Design (University of Minnesota).
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1955 - 1960 (Museum date) Black Spingolator with rose heel Source: Goldstein Museum Of Design University Of Minnesota (Twin Cities) |
A ROSE IS A ROSE IS A ROSE
While the same concept (petals as heel) was later adopted by designers such as Pfister and Blahnik, the Frenchman Marc Rakotozanany went even further in 2003 patenting a Josephi replica.
Furthermore, the Josephi stem - a steel cylinder heel - went places, only longer.
HEELSTORY