Roland Mouret has been busy dreaming up a new look for the Robert Clergerie man, one he defines as slightly offbeat, a tad psychedelic, but eminently wearable. “The way I see it, you can either do ‘heritage’ or you can create your own identity,” said Mouret upon arriving at the relaunch party he hosted at Maxim’s in Paris last night. “For me, the point of heritage is to break it down and do something new.” Robert Clergerie himself, hale and hearty at 79, joined in the process by sending Mouret a selection of his favorite styles.
There are more than 1,000 pairs of shoes in Clergerie’s nearly 120-year-old archives. (The company predates the man, who purchased and renamed the house in 1978.) Two pairs in particular—one from 1918 and another from 1926—came to inform the Spring ’14 line of derbies, oxfords, boots, and Chelsea boots that are part twenties and, true to Mouret’s style, part eighties.
“Clergerie always had a rock-and-roll spirit,” noted the house’s president, Eva Taub. “Robert’s first shoes for women were actually quite masculine. This spring we’re kind of pushing that signature androgyny in a new direction.” Added Mouret, “The 21st century is not about playing things safe. It’s about going your own way.”
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