Designer of the Year Gherardo Felloni on Success, His Creative Approach at Roger Vivier and Living on an Island With 10 Cats
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On Nov. 29, Gherardo Felloni will be honored as Designer of the Year at the 37th annual FN Achievement Awards. Below is an article from the magazine’s Nov. 27 print issue speaking with Felloni about his approach to modernizing a historic house.
Gherardo Felloni is sitting in a factory in Sant’Elpidio, Italy.
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It’s a world away from the glamour of Roger Vivier’s pink Paris flagship, as well as the polished, sophisticated looks the designer wears on the red carpet. But in many ways, it feels like home.
The 43-year-old spent his childhood among the machinery at his family’s shoe factory in Tuscany, where they worked with brands including Hermès, Gucci and Prada. His formative years were spent playing with scraps of material among the humming of the machinery.
“I didn’t think about becoming a designer because I always saw all the processes from a production point of view, not from a designing point of view,” he said. His artistic bent was apparent — he dreamed of being a singer, then an architect, and spent his time painting and drawing at home. But soon his father lured him to the factory with a summer internship sketching shoes. “I started to see it from a completely different point of view. I realized that it was my cup of tea, my comfort zone.
“Now when I have to think about a new collection, I enjoy the fact that I can spend my time in the factory with all the components and the techniques,” he said.
His interest in architecture remained and continues to influence his work. “There’s a close relation between an architectural mindset and shoe making. Because you need to understand how to hold women with a heel, or a wedge, or a platform – it’s linked to creating something structural in a way,” he said. “You have to play the game and keep in mind what is possible, and if something looks impossible, then find a solution with technique.”
For the brand’s fall ’23 collection presented in March, he revived the house’s signature Choc heel, which first debuted in 1959. At the time, its gently curved inward arch pushed the boundaries of balance for women’s shoes. That shape is all about internal construction while striking a delicate balance — and still resonates an unconventional edge.
Felloni was named creative director of Roger Vivier in 2018 and immediately immersed himself in the archives. Since stepping into the shoes of the house’s legendary namesake, he has embodied Vivier’s flair for color, shape and its signature square buckle, while moving the brand forward with a modern approach.
One of his initial moves at the label was to introduce its first sneaker, the Viv’Run, and he reintroduced the classic Viv’Canard for spring ’24, taking the traditional slingback shape forward with an elongated toe.
He also brought back the brand’s couture week presentation in July, showing an extremely curated collection of one-of-a-kind handbags. On the heels of strong growth for the Tod’s Group-owned brand —which saw sales increase 19.1 percent in the first nine months of the year — Felloni wants to build Vivier into a fuller accessories business. He launched the jewelry category early in his tenure; having come from Miu Miu as the head of footwear, leather goods and costume jewelry, it seems like a natural extension.
Here, Felloni explains his modern approach to luxury design and business.
How do you pull inspiration from the archives and continue to make the work your own?
“I have been inspired by Roger Vivier all my career. So of course, when I arrived here, I was attracted to the archive. It is my goal not to forget the legacy of the brand and play with it. But my first goal is to take this brand and make it alive and contemporary. I always take inspiration — because without the past, there’s no future in fashion; everyone has to take inspiration to evolve into something new — but at the same time, I try to catch the feeling that Roger Vivier was trying to communicate when he was creating something. If you contextualize this kind of approach, you can make contemporary shoes. If not, you are just copying old things.”
You’ve said one of your goals was to make the company grow in terms of numbers, and you have been successful, with sales up nearly 30 percent in the first half. What do you think of these kinds of results?
“I’ve always said to myself that in fashion, we are not artists, we are creative persons that try to sell, for example, shoes and bags. And if you create a collection that doesn’t sell, there’s a problem, because it means that women outside don’t get it. And when fashion is not [understood] from the final customer, there’s a problem. I never believed that a designer can really impose something. Fashion is the manifest of the moment we are living in in history, it’s always been like this. A good designer is one that interprets it, that gets it and does it at the right time. So that’s why the numbers, in a way, are important.”
The brand does not have huge amounts of advertising or a big runway show, and seems to grow through client loyalty. Do you connect the sales success to this approach?
“There are a lot of women and a lot of clients who don’t want what everybody has, so it’s nice to have something out of the blue. Sometimes a merchandiser basically asks for something, because that’s how it works, but I really fight to do it our way, and I think that’s paid back a lot. Probably that’s the key of the success that we have. And also, the success that we have is not so big. It’s not 100 percent more every season, which is so dangerous, because if you do grow like this, first you have to die to reach this kind of number. Second, you have to die to maintain it. And third, you’re gonna die because it’s impossible to maintain it. It’s dangerous, more than anything. I think it’s another philosophy from [Tod’s Group owner Diego] Della Valle, he really wants to maintain consistent brand luxury, and with the heritage always present. It’s a challenge because sometimes in this world there’s this big brand that takes the attention with social media. You have to be [on social media], and sometimes it’s not easy. But I really believe that if you build a community, if you work on your product to make it consistent, I think people understand.”
Cher attended the presentation, as well as Michelle Yeoh and Laura Dern. Those are some legendary women. Are these the types of women who you are thinking of when you design?
“I am a big fan of Cher since the beginning of my career. I’m a big fan of embroidery, happiness, color. Cher, since the ’60s, was dressed by Bob Mackie and she had some of the most beautiful and crazy dresses ever. Many times in my life and in my career I have had photos of Cher on a mood board. She’s a real source of inspiration. I have a variation of, I call it the [Viv’Choc] disco bag with embroidery that comes from a Bob Mackie-inspired embroidered, paillette [outfit]. Then I discovered she was a fan of my work, too, because she bought how many pairs? And didn’t ask for a discount. She’s a real fan.
I was happy about all this praise, but there’s a link. There’s a logic behind it. I don’t like to invite or to force women to come to the presentation because they are famous or because they’re doing Instagram. It’s very natural. The exact people who attended the presentation genuinely wanted to be at the presentation. I can’t say that for many brands that just pick people for their followers and their reach.”
Your one-of-a-kind collection was a longtime dream. What are the other dreams you have for Vivier?
“I have a lot! I love the idea that now Roger Vivier is becoming more and more an accessory maison. We are growing our bags and we are growing our jewelry, and we have launched some hats. If I have to say [my dream], it’s that, in the next few years, people recognize that Roger Vivier is a brand, it’s a maison, that speaks about shoes, but also about a silhouette. Sometimes people forget that shoes make the silhouette of everything in fashion. I worked with many designers — Miuccia Prada, Helmut Lang, Raf Simons, John Galliano. The moment that you decide the shoes — if it’s a high heel, if it’s a flat shoe, if it’s a sneaker, if it’s a sandal — you can complete your silhouette for a show. That’s why shoes are important in fashion. And Roger Vivier was the master who changed the silhouette of women in the history of fashion.”
When you are not in the factory or the maison or traveling to Shanghai for events, you live on an island with nine cats.
“I actually lost one cat years ago, and today, a lady on the island found the cat and sent me a picture. So now I have 10 and not nine, from today. She’s alive! When I go there, I’m in productive mode and I can switch off if I want. It’s happened to everyone now, but especially when you are a designer, you have to go to the factory, you have to go to dinner, you have to go to Hong Kong, to New York, to Paris, you have to go here and there. So sometimes you don’t you have time to think. That’s one of the things that has mostly changed in a designer’s life in the past 15 years. Before, there was time to think about a collection, now there’s no more time to think about anything. Everything is so fast. To have this kind of ‘stop’ is a regenerating solution for me.”
For 37 years, the annual FN Achievement Awards — often called the “Shoe Oscars” — have celebrated the style stars, best brand stories, ardent philanthropists, emerging talents and industry veterans. The 2023 event is supported by sponsors Authentic Brands Group, Birdies, Caleres, Crocs, FDRA, Nordstrom, Saucony and Vibram.
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