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1960 | Préciosa by Heyraud
Sandal with cantilever heel, a design patented by Romeo Griffi
Bertrand Heyraud's private collection
Source: Bertrand Heyraud "5000 ans de Chaussures" Parkstone Press 1994
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"La mode tyrannique du talon aiguille règnera, omnipotente, pendant les années soixante, avec cepedant un curieux contrepoint que fut, pendant une saison, la chaussure sans talon."
Bertrand Heyraud
5000 ans de chaussure | Parkstone Press 1994
"The fashion tyranny of the stiletto reigned supreme during the Sixties, with a curious counterpoint that was, for a season, the heelless shoe."
Bertrand Heyraud
5000 ans de chaussure | Parkstone Press 1994
Bertrand Heyraud
5000 ans de chaussure | Parkstone Press 1994
"The fashion tyranny of the stiletto reigned supreme during the Sixties, with a curious counterpoint that was, for a season, the heelless shoe."
Bertrand Heyraud
5000 ans de chaussure | Parkstone Press 1994
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1960 | Sandal Préciosa by Heyraud | Detail
Source: Bertrand Heyraud "5000 ans de Chaussures" Parkstone Press 1994 |
Well, for a season or two: the fashion of the heel-less shoe based on a cantilever system was the sensation at the turn of the Fifties and Sixties. Even if it's true that it didn't last long, Hayraud forgot to say that the idea is resurrected from time to time. He also didn't mention that Préciosa used an Italian patent, however, on the sole of the sandal published in his book we can read "Italy Gr...", meaning shoe inventor Romeo Griffi (1958). More about Griffi's idea here.
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1960 | Preciosa by Heyraud pump and its miniature reprodution
An application of the cantilever heel design patented by Romeo Griffi
Source: Bertrand Heyraud "5000 ans de Chaussures" Parkstone Press 1994
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| April 27, 1959 Natale Ferrario showcase at the Milan's Trade Fair (Griffi patent) Source: Publifoto/Lombardia Beni Culturali |
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| April 27, 1959 Natale Ferrario window display at the Milan's Trade Fair Griffi Brevetto Mondiale (Griffi World Patent) can be seen on the window's top left corner Source: Publifoto/Lombardia Beni Culturali |
It goes without saying that the goldmine of Italian shoes known as Dutch Leather & Shoe Museum (Nederlands Leder En Schoenen Museum) hosts in its collection two Italian heelless, one from Ferrario and the other from Marazzini (both from Parabiago's Milan). Another TH favourite - Russia's Shoe Icon - sports a very rare Salvatore Ferragamo's Florentina's (below).
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| 1959 | Natale Ferrario Source: Nederlands Leder En Schoenen Museum Courtesy: Curator/PR Inge Specht-den Boer |
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| 1959 | Marazzini Source: Nederlands Leder En Schoenen Museum Courtesy: Curator/PR Inge Specht-den Boer |
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| Florentina's by Salvatore Ferragamo Source: Shoe Icons |
THE HEEL-LESS SHOE
1958 | The Heel-Less Shoe
Natale Ferrario & Manolo Blahnik
Part 1
1947 | The Heel-Less Shoe
Martin Friedmann, Jr & Manolo Blahnik
Part 2
1958 | The Heel-Less Shoe
Romeo Griffi Et Al
Part 3
HEELSTORY
HEEL HISTORY IN PICTURES
1958 | The Heel-Less Shoe
Natale Ferrario & Manolo Blahnik
Part 1
1947 | The Heel-Less Shoe
Martin Friedmann, Jr & Manolo Blahnik
Part 2
1958 | The Heel-Less Shoe
Romeo Griffi Et Al
Part 3
HEELSTORY
HEEL HISTORY IN PICTURES
FOOTNOTE
Our (SHOE ICONS) collection of cantilever shoes contains three pairs manufactured, as printed on the label, under the licence from Griffi, As I found out later, Romeo Griffi was granted a UK patent for cantilever design on June 10, 1958. US patent US2958962 (A) was issued in 1961.
Heelless cantilever shoes under the licence of Griffi were produced in Italy by companies like Natale Ferrario and some were made expressly for Kempners - well-known shoe store in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Shoe Icons'owner Nazim Mustafaev
From: Tricks Of The Eye (THE Heel-less Shoe History)
Tricks Of The Eye is a very thorough research from the very first heel-less (Perugia) to the countless variations over the years. It also made clear that the MET date of the Chas A. Stevens hell-less needs to be amended.
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