Simon Porte Jacquemus has always loved geometric shapes, saying he is obsessed with circles and squares. Originally, its very minimalist design was explained in particular by cost reasons: the designer made clothes without buttons or pockets, with a minimum of cutting and sewing to save as much material as possible. Its basic but graphic shapes will become its aesthetic signature.
Moreover, his fashion show called “Les Sculptures”, organized on January 29 at the Maeght Foundation, was no exception to his penchant for geometric lines: the shoulders of the coats were round like balloons and the shoes very architectural. We were notably able to see Repetto’s famous Zizi revisited in its own way, and equipped with a square toe and a 2-centimeter cylindrical heel.
It was the designer who contacted Repetto to submit this shoe project. He has worn white Zizi for a long time and wanted to reinterpret them according to the codes of his brand, for this event parade. “The square front shape contrasts with the usual roundness of our Zizi, but it echoes the shape of the ballet pointe shoes, an emblematic product of the house”explains Charlotte Gaucher, CEO of Repetto.
An emblematic technique
Jacquemus is not the first fashion designer to have reinterpreted these brogues, created in the 1970s and dubbed by Serge Gainsbourg: Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto have each recreated the Zizi on several occasions – named after the dancer and revue leader Zizi Jeanmaire, daughter-in-law of the founder, Rose Repetto. After a recent collaboration with Kei Ninomiya in March 2023 (the Japanese designer imagined wedge heels with a punk accent), Repetto did everything possible to respond to Jacquemus’ wish for transformation.
The model was prototyped and manufactured in the Repetto factory, which has eighty employees, 80% of whom are artisans, located in Saint-Médard-d’Excideuil, a village of one thousand five hundred inhabitants located 40 kilometers from Périgueux ( Dordogne). “ It was made using the house’s emblematic technique: “sew-and-turn”, developed by Madame Repetto in 1947. This process consists of sewing the upper part of the shoe (called the upper) inside out. ), with the sole, before turning it over to put it right side up”, continues Charlotte Gaucher. Several months are necessary to master these actions and obtain impeccable seams. This gives the model extreme flexibility.
It took nine months to complete the project, mobilizing Repetto’s style teams and craftsmen, ten people in total. “Our sew-and-turn technique is very demanding. Any new form involves a significant amount of time for research and innovation, so that the development is perfect,” explains Charlotte Gaucher. Each element of the pair was created to measure. The house had never created such a sculptural Zizi, nor thought so much about the balance to be found between a cylindrical heel and such a square toe.
The Zizi Jacquemus. repetto.fr