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He lives between Paris and Italy. Or rather: between the French capital, the Marche, and Tuscany, where he was born and raised and still runs today to dedicate himself to two of his great passions, the care of flowers and plants and singing, surrounded by family affection and his loved ones (nine) cats. Gherardo Felloni, creative director of the Roger Vivier maison since 2018 (the brand with the highest positioning of the Tod’s group) has become a stylist, with a predilection for shoes and accessories, but he could have been an architect, a tenor or a gardener. The cheerful kindness of his manner – which has something ancient and at the same time very modern, because today we need kindness more than ever – recalls the protagonist of one of John Le Carré’s most beautiful books of recent years, The Constant Gardener , which also became a film starring Ralph Fiennes.
Watching her put the finishing touches on the presentation of the collection for next spring-summer you understand how much she loves her work. No anxiety related to the history of the maison and its founder?
More than anxiety, respect. I have always loved and studied Roger Vivier, who unfortunately I was unable to meet (Felloni was born in 1980, Vivier passed away in 1998, ed.). But sometimes I close my eyes, or daydream, and imagine myself with him, asking him questions about past collections and asking him for advice on future ones. And why not, opinions on my contribution to the maison. More than four years have passed since my arrival and I always have the impression that Roger Vivier’s story offers infinite insights. Every now and then I visit the archive, but more than the shoe models he created, within me I always refer to the most beautiful characteristic of him, for me, that of an innovator and observer of reality in all its forms. He was a man deeply immersed in the present, but aware that ultimately the present does not exist, that today is already tomorrow and that fashion can and must read the present and at the same time project itself into the future.
Reality is also made up of numbers: the Tod’s group is listed and Roger Vivier grew by 28.4% to 154 million in the first half of the year and is now the group’s second largest brand, after Tod’s. No numbers anxiety?
More than anxiety, a state of mind that fortunately I know little about, I would say awareness. The fashion industry is relatively young but has enormous proportions, in Italy and around the world. I’m not a manager, but I understand very well the constraints linked to being listed and the fact that without economic sustainability you can’t go anywhere. As a creative, I accept the limitations that can come on the budgets, for example, even of presentations like this one in Paris. At the same time I believe that compared to other industries, fashion has a component of uncertainty, unpredictability and risk that must be accepted, without imposing itself or dreaming of double-digit growth always and in any case. I am fortunate to work in a group led by an entrepreneur, Diego Della Valle, who aims for healthy, sustainable growth in the medium and long term.
In Milan and now in Paris, in this round and in previous ones, some brands seem to want to send messages to society, to encourage changes. Do you think fashion should do this?
I repeat: in my opinion fashion is part of society, it tells it, it reflects it. The history of fashion, I’m talking about both clothing and accessories, is so fascinating precisely because it helps us understand the different eras and the many dressing cultures that exist on this planet. But I don’t think we should send moral messages, so to speak, or give lessons. Society changes regardless of fashion, we creatives have to deal with it. We are less important than we think (laughs). Let me be clear, I take my job very seriously, which I enjoy immensely. But fashion must convey joy, the desire to live, the desire to please oneself and others, helping us to show who we are. No impositions or prohibitions, however, please.
You introduced a capsule of men’s shoes, enhanced the bag collection and presented some vests. All categories that Roger Vivier hadn’t thought of, what would he say about them?
He would see them, I think, as interesting innovations. He was not afraid to experiment, take risks, dare. I wish I were like that too.