Roger Vivier Pièce Unique Brings Back Vivier's Butterflies For FW2026/27
July 22, 2026
L'Atelier Des Papillons Turns Choc Pumps And Viv' Run Sneakers Into One Of A Kind Creations
Roger Vivier has been making shoes since 1937. He gave fashion the stiletto as we know it, put Catherine Deneuve in Pilgrim pumps for "Belle de Jour", and created heels that eventually found their way into museum collections. Curiously, shoes were still missing from Roger Vivier Pièce Unique, the Maison's most exclusive collection. Gherardo Felloni, Creative Director of Roger Vivier, corrects the omission for Fall/Winter 2026/27 with L'Atelier des Papillons. Among its 31 one-of-a-kind creations are the first Pièce Unique Choc pumps and Viv' Run sneakers.
The concept is wonderfully literal. One prototype of each shoe is made in size 37 and kept in the Roger Vivier archive. A second, and final, pair is reserved for a client, made in her size and to her specifications. Suddenly, Felloni can indulge in materials that would be nearly impossible to reproduce across a conventional collection. River pearls. Hand-painted feathers. Mother-of-pearl. Organza. Macramé. Sculpted metal. Crystals. Intricate beadwork. He only needs enough for one pair.
Roger Vivier Pièce Unique Revisits The Choc Heel
The Choc heel has been waiting since 1959 for this kind of treatment. Monsieur Vivier imagined its deep inward curve more than six decades ago, and Felloni returns to the archival shape for Fall/Winter 2026/27. This time, butterflies have landed all over it.
Some spread across pointed toes in dense beadwork. Others emerge in hand-painted feathers, their wings extending beyond the edge of the pump. Organza creates almost transparent specimens. Mother-of-pearl, crystals, macramé and metal appear elsewhere, sometimes layered together until the shoe begins to resemble a piece of jewelry.
The butterfly itself comes straight from the archive. Monsieur Vivier played with the motif repeatedly, translating it through embroidery, jeweled ornaments and sculptural forms. Felloni picks up where he left off, changing the material, scale and movement from one pair to the next. No two butterflies need to behave alike when no two pairs need to exist.
The Viv' Run Goes Couture
Even the sneaker gets butterflies. Viv' Run, introduced by Felloni in 2018, becomes the first sneaker to enter Pièce Unique, and its connection to the Choc is closer than it initially appears. Follow the sole and the same concave curve returns, borrowed from Vivier's 1959 heel.
Then the atelier gets involved. Embroidered wings climb across the upper. Beads and crystals interrupt the technical construction. Three-dimensional butterflies lift away from the sneaker altogether. The Viv' Run remains unmistakably a sneaker underneath it all, which is precisely why the couture work feels so unexpected.
The Butterflies Move Onto Bags And Vests
Shoes may be the novelty, but L'Atelier des Papillons counts 31 creations for Fall/Winter 2026/27. Handbags and three embroidered vests complete the collection, carrying the butterfly out of the shoe atelier and across a much larger canvas.
The Efflorescence bag returns covered in the same world of beadwork, feathers and jeweled details, while the vests allow the embroidery to spread across the body. Tiny wings become full compositions. Pearls multiply. Flowers and butterflies move across the surface with considerably more room than Felloni has on the toe of a Choc pump.
How To Order Roger Vivier Pièce Unique
There is customization, and then there is Pièce Unique. Roger Vivier introduced Atelier Vivier earlier this year at 20 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, where 28 shoe styles and seven bags can be personalized through a choice of materials and finishes. Pièce Unique begins where that menu ends.
For the shoes in L'Atelier des Papillons, the Maison keeps the original size 37 prototype. A client commissions the only other pair in her own size and specifications. Two pairs exist. One stays in the archive. The other leaves with her.
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