The rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré-inspired boutique is the new kid on the block of namedroppable stores at Greenbelt 3
Roger Vivier, known as the Fabergé of footwear, has just waltzed into Metro Manila like Josephine Baker sauntering into a Montmarte theater with the out-of-this-world flourish of a cheetah on a leash, that is, if the late Vogue editrix Diana Vreeland weren’t exaggerating the truth, as she claimed to do “always,” in her mesmerizing 1984 autobiography DV.
But Roger Vivier, father to the 1954-launched Aiguille stiletto and the sinuous Virgule heel, more commonly known as the “curved heel,” the emblem of French chic, has indeed walked into Metro Manila where, through his luxury house, he has found pride of place in a 100-square-meter rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré-inspired boutique along Ayala Malls at Greenbelt 3 in Makati City.
Ambling along, on mind-bendingly thin heels, are Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlene Dietrich, Princess Soraya of Iran, and Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. So is Queen Elizabeth II or her 25-year-old self, for whom Roger Vivier created bespoke ruby-encrusted, gold leather pumps for her coronation as British monarch on June 2, 1953. Incorporated with a fleur-de-lys motif to match the Imperial State Crown she wore during the Westminster Abbey ceremony, the royal shoe made a comeback in 2020, reimagined 67 years later as “the Vivier Queen Sandal” by current Roger Vivier creative director Gherardo Felloni.
But let’s not go too far back in time because part of the Vivier parade as it makes its way to Manila is a coterie of style A-listers like Anne Hathaway, Cate Blanchett, Charlize Theron, Freida Pinto, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Alba, Katie Holmes, Marion Cotillard, and Scarlett Johansson.
Roger Vivier, the fashion house, has displayed how bullish it is with expanding its retail presence in Southeast Asia by unveiling its first boutique in the heart of Metro Manila. The store opened in late October, the new kid on the block of namedroppable stores at Greenbelt 3, which has repositioned itself as a hotspot at par with the world’s luxury capitals.
On offer at the boutique, designed to replicate the flagship in Paris with the iconic Viv Choc bag and Strass Buckle bag dazzling and sparkling through the shopwindow, is all the latest at Roger Vivier, not only the footwear, from formals to street, but also bags, small leather goods, and accessories.
The emblematic buckle is all present at the Greenbelt store, retro on some and updated on others. After all, the buckle, which debuted alongside Yves Saint-Laurent’s Mondrian collection in 1965, is a Vivier signature, as is every exquisite silhouette the luxury house has ever launched into the ever changing world of women, from Roger Vivier to Bruno Frisoni to Gherardo Felloni, who joined the maison in March 2018.
I review my sketches hundreds of times because I want to make sure that the idea I have in my mind is correct and respects the architecture of the foot. — Roger Vivier
The pieces, whether shoe or bag or accessory, undergo the same permutations that women have undergone since the 1907-born Roger Vivier, after a wildly successful stint as shoemaker for theater, opened his shoe salon on rue Royale in Paris in 1937.
Now, as then, every Roger Vivier shoe is made to withstand the test of time, from the classic Belle Vivier pumps, which launched the buckle in 1965 as jewelry for the feet, to the athletic Viv Run sneakers to the handcrafted celebrity favorite Flower Strass heels.
Have a piece of the quintessential styles that have written the history of Roger Vivier at your feet at its new home in Manila.
The Roger Vivier boutique at Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center Malls is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. rogervivier.com
