SERENDIPITY | CHRIS FRANCIS V/S CARDARELLI & DEODATO

August 31, 2016, 2:30 am

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Chris Francis/Love Craft Leather

Source: Georgina Goodman

1973 | Cardarelli | Designed by O. Pincini | Detail

Porto San'Elpidio, Fermo

1973 | Cardarelli | Designed by O. Pincini

Porto San'Elpidio, Fermo

Chris Francis of Love Craft Leather at work

Source: Georgina Goodman

1973 | Salvatore Deodato for Romea (Venice)

At museums across Europe

Being American, Chris Francis might got ahold of Fred Slatten's design, made two years after Deodato. Either way ...

1975 | Fred Slatten

From: TV Guide - November 15, 1975

Source: Goldmine Trash

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PIETRO YANTORNY (1874 - 1936) | BOOT MAKER IN PARIS

September 2, 2016, 1:25 am

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(The shoes) were made by Yanturni, the East Indian curator of the Cluny Museum, a strange individual with an extraordinary gift for making incredibly light footgear that was moulded like the most sensitive sculpture.

Cecil Beaton
The Glass Of Fashion (1954 - Rizzoli Ex Libris, 2014)

Pierre Yantorny

Boot Maker In Paris

The strange individual known as Pierre Yantorny was born Pietro Iantorni and fashioned himself as "the most expensive shoemaker in the world". The fabled Yantorny was active in Paris across the Eighteenth and Nineteenth century. Often mispelled as Yanturni, or Yantourny, at the height of his career wrote an article for The New York Times titled "Important Advice For The Well-Dressed Woman" and signed the piece as Paolo Yantorny, not Pierre, but it was no doubt it was him:

Paolo Yantorny is the master bootmaker of Europe. He is a tradesman unique in the world. In an article which appeared in The New York Times on March 3 last year, it was explained that each client must pay $ 600 in advance on giving an order. No single order for an amount less than that would be accepted. This year the limit is more than eight times in excess of that.

The New York Times | March 9, 1913

December 12, 2016 marks the 80th anniversary of Yantorny's death: time to celebrate and to know him to a greater degree.

Pierre Yantorny

French of course plus Italian, Spanish and English

Mrs. Rita De Acosta Lydig's collection
As told by Cecil Beaton

Pietro Yantorny's Legacy | Museums & Socialites

Pierre Yantorny

Le Bottier Le Plus Cher Du Monde Exhibition catalog

Musée International de la Chaussure de Romans, France

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INTRODUCING PIERRE YANTORNY | PART 1 | FIRST THING: THE LAST

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Pietro Yantorny (1874 - 1936)

Source: "Pierre Yantorny: le bottier le plus cher du monde"

Pietro Iantorni was born May 28, 1874 in Marano Marchesato in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, south of Italy. He went to school for only a few months when he was eight years old, not enough time to learn reading and writing. In later years, Yantorny's diaries were actually dictated to his wife.

Pietro Iantorni nacque il 28 maggio 1874 a Marano Marchesato in provincia di Cosenza. Andò a scuola solo qualche mese quando aveva otto anni, ma non abbastanza a lungo per imparare a leggere e scrivere. Le notizie che Yantorny ha lasciato di sé nel suo diario furono in realtà dettate alla moglie.

Early 1900 | Cosenza, the market

Source: Calabriaonline

After school he worked in a pasta factory for twelve hours a day. Then he became a stable boy. Twelve years old, in 1886, he moved to Naples with his father and for six months worked as a shoemaker apprentice. His father sailed for Chicago, but Pierre remained in Naples. He was hired by another shoemaker and began to save up with the goal to seek fame and fortune. Like his father.

Dopo la scuola diventò operaio in un pastificio dove lavorava dodici ore al giorno. Poi fece lo stalliere; a dodici anni, quando si trasferì a Napoli col padre nel 1886, iniziò come apprendista presso un calzolaio per sei mesi. Il padre si imbarcò per il mitico viaggio verso l’America, destinazione Chicago. Pietro invece rimase a Napoli, entrò alle dipendenze di un altro calzolaio e iniziò, come prima suo padre, a mettere da parte i guadagni, con l’idea di andare a cercare fortuna.

Early 1900 | A pasta factory in Torre Annunziata, Naples

Source: Musei del Cibo

After a few years, he left for Genoa, then the French Riviera and finally Paris. His first trip to the French capital in 1891 was a total fiasco and lasted only seven months. He had to go back to Nice, but went to Paris a few months later with better luck and spent six years as a specialized craftsman for major fashion houses.

In 1898, twenty-four years old, he decided to further investigate a crucial part of the shoe technique: last construction. He moved to London and spent two years in the field. In addition he learnt English that proved to be a valuable asset some years later with his American customers. Back in Paris, in a room in the Rue Dominique, facing many struggles, he started his own business as a last maker: "I was alone, working for long hours and not eating everyday"

Dopo pochi anni, partì per Genova, poi la Costa Azzurra. Poi Parigi. Il suo primo viaggio nella capitale francese nel 1891 fu un fiasco totale e durò solo sette mesi. Costretto a tornare a Nizza, ritentò l’avventura parigina dopo un anno con migliore sorte: per sei anni lavorò come artigiano specializzato al servizio di importanti case di moda.

A ventiquattro anni, nel 1898 decide di apprendere il complemento fondamentale della sua tecnica calzaturiera: la costruzione delle forme. Si trasferisce per questo a Londra e per due anni si specializza in questa attività, oltre ad imparare l’inglese, che gli sarà indispensabile con le future clienti americane. Tornato a Parigi, in una stanza in Rue Dominique, comincia la propria attività da formista fra mille sacrifici: “ero solo, lavoravo molte ore e non tutti i giorni mangiavo”

Source: "Pierre Yantorny: le bottier le plus cher du monde"

Catalogue de l'Exposition, Musée International de la Chaussure, Romans, 2006

PIERRE YANTORNY | BOOT MAKER IN PARIS
A.K.A. YANTURNY - A.K.A. YANTOURNY
I N D E X

1913 - 14 | Pietro Yantorny for Mrs. Howard O. Sturges

Silk, leather, glass

Source: Metmuseum

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INTRODUCING PIETRO YANTORNY | PART 2 | THE LAST MAKER

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1914-1919 | Shoe trees by Pietro Yantorny

Source: The Met Museum

In 1904 Yantorny opens his first store in Faubourg St. Honoré 96 and specializes in four models. He participates to an Expo in Rome in 1904 where he won the gold medal for his lasts. At the same time he began to produce custom-made footwear and showed his work the year after, in 1905, at the exhibition "Palais de la Femme" in Paris. His work was noticed and praised by "Le Panthéon de l'industrie":

“Yantorny shows a series of samples from his production proving that his concern is to always look for improvements and create new models that distinguish themselves for their decorative qualities as their very practical advantages. These are the ladies’ and men’s shoes exposed, in patent leather, goat and antelope, with leather heels and Louis XV heels. These various samples are of a so finished and remarkable elegance together with their forms. Incidentally, it should be noted that we find in Mr. Yantorny, a great advantage that other shoemakers don’t have. Mr. Yantorny is, indeed, a last-maker and he is more able to make shoes adapting perfectly to the customer's foot.”

1905 | Exhibitors att the Palais de la Femme

Source: Femina magazine

Nel 1904 Yantorny apre il primo negozio in faubourg St.Honoré 96 e si specializza su quattro modelli. Partecipa all’Esposizione di Roma del 1904 dove vince la medaglia d’oro per le forme. Inizia allo stesso tempo anche a produrre calzature su misura e presenta la propria attività l’anno dopo, nel 1905, quando partecipa all’esposizione parigina al “Palais de la Femme”. Il suo lavoro viene notato ed elogiato su “Le Panthéon de l'industrie”:

“Yantorny mostra una serie di campioni di sua produzione che dimostrano che la sua preoccupazione è quella di cercare sempre di migliorare e creare nuovi modelli che si distinguano per le loro qualità decorative e per i loro reali vantaggi. Sono così i modelli esposti da signora e le scarpe da uomo, in vernice, capretto e antilope, con tacchi in cuoio e tacchi Luigi XV. Questi vari campioni sono di un’eleganza così notevole e presentati insieme con le loro forme. A questo proposito, si deve rilevare che troviamo nel sig. Yantorny, un grande vantaggio che altri calzolai non hanno. Il sig. Yantorny è, infatti, un formista e più di altri in grado di eseguire scarpe che adattano perfettamente al piede del cliente."

1905 | “Le Panthéon de l'industrie”

An article about Yantorny's exhibition

at the Pavillon de la Femme

But his ambition drives him to aim higher and he decides to relocate his businesses in Place Vendôme. A stickler for perfection and an experimenter, Yantorny develops a waterproof and stain resistant shoe model produced in six month work: the shoe, made with tiny feathers of hummingbirds, was patented in 1908. From then on, Yantorny became "the most expensive shoemaker in the world".

Ma la sua ambizione lo spinge a puntare più in alto e per questo decide di trasferire la propria attività in Place Vendôme. Perfezionista al massimo livello e sperimentatore, sviluppa un modello di calzatura idrorepellente e antimacchia la cui realizzazione gli richiede sei mesi di tempo: la scarpa realizzata con le piume piccolisime di colibrì, brevettata nel 1908. Da allora Yantorny divenne “il calzolaio più caro al mondo”.

PIERRE YANTORNY | BOOT MAKER IN PARIS

A.K.A. YANTURNY - A.K.A. YANTOURNY

I N D E X

1920s | Pietro Yantorny for Mrs. John Scholz (Helen Marshall)

Black leather pump, laced and cut out

Source: Metmuseum

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1908 | PIETRO YANTORNY AND THE FEATHERED SHOES

September 6, 2016, 9:32 am

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1908 | Pietro Yantorny

The Feathered Shoe

Source: The Art Of The Shoe (Sirrocco, 2007)

The masterpiece I want to submit to the public view is the feathered shoe made with Japanese bird feathers each measuring about one and a half millimeters. It took six months to complete a pair. I have not done it for selling it, only as an artistic object and to show how far I could push the boundaries of shoemaking.

Pietro Yantorny

"Le chef d’oeuvre que j’ai voulu soumettre aux yeux du public c’est le soulier de plumes d’oiseau venant du Japon mesurant chacune à peu près 1 millimètre et demi. Il a fallu 6 mois pour pouvoir en achiever une paire. Je n’ai pas fait cela pour une speculation de vente mais seulement pou un objet artistique et faire voir jusqu’où je pouvais pousser le degré de la cordonnerie."

Pietro Yantorny

The application for the invention of the feathered shoe was filed in 1908 (Brevet d’Invention 396.408). Its aim was to find a solution to four common problems of the time with luxury shoes:

- the delicate fabrics easily got stained and couldn’t be cleaned;

- they weren’t waterproof;

- they couldn’t easily match the most delicate fabrics of the women’s dresses or their different shades;

- and finally, if the upper got scratched, it couldn’t be repaired.

Page from Yantorny's diary where he described the production of the

feathered shoes.

Not being able to read or write, Yantorny dictated his memoirs to his wife.

"Our man proudly shows his visiting ladies a pair of shoes of his manufacture that costs 10,000 francs. Their value is explained by that fact alone that they are completely, except the sole, covered with rare birds feathers: paradise, hummingbird, etc. These are both the most curious and most expensive shoes in the world ... Let's hope that the fashion of shoes costing ten thousand francs will not take!"

Flossie - Femina magazine, 1914

"Notre homme montre avec orgueil à ses visiteuses une paire de souliers de sa fabrication qui vaut 10.000 francs. Leur valeur s’explique par ce seul fait qu’ils sont entièrement, sauf la semelle, confectionnés en plumes d’oiseaux rares: paradis, colibri, etc. C’est à la fois les souliers les plus curieux et les plus chers du monde… Esperons que la mode des souliers de dix mille francs ne va pas prendre!"

Flossie - Femina magazine, 1914

1914 | A page from the magazine Femina about the Pietro Yantorny's production

Sourse: Shoe-Icons

1914 | Pietro Yantorny | The feathered shoe | detail

From the magazine Femina

Sourse: Shoe-Icons

PIERRE YANTORNY | BOOT MAKER IN PARIS

A.K.A. YANTURNY - A.K.A. YANTOURNY

I N D E X

1908 | Pietro Yantorny
The Feathered Shoe
Source: The Art Of The Shoe (Sirrocco, 2007)

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PIETRO YANTORNY | BY MY RULES

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Pietro Yantorny | Paris, 26 Place Vendome

The Most Expensive Shoe Maker In The World

Yantorny's shoes were intended for an elite clientele only. The rules of entry were very strict and aimed to make a first selection:

1. For each customer we create several types of lasts.

2. The classic and artistic study of the foot are charged to the House

3. Price starting from 125 francs the pair without any garnish

4. The first command consists of:

10 pairs of shoes

10 pairs of shoetrees

2 Trunks for boots and shoes

6 pairs of stockings for each pair of shoes matching their nuances. Buckles, shoehorn, button hook and all accessories for maintenance.

5. Make a deposit of 25,OOO francs as warranty on account of the order.

6. For the first order the House does not accept any buckle provided by the customer.

PIERRE YANTORNY | BOOT MAKER IN PARIS
A.K.A. YANTURNY - A.K.A. YANTOURNY
I N D E X

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1916 | PIETRO YANTORNY | THE SENSE OF BEAUTIFUL MUST BE ENCOURAGED

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1914 -1919 | Pietro Yantorny for Rita de Acosta Lydig

Gift of Mercedes de Acosta

Source: Metmu seum

“In Paris, the master artist of the shoemaking craft is Yantorny, who will not do any one the favor of making a pair of shoes unless the first order amounts to the sum of $1,000. This was his price several years ago, however, and it is said that at present he does not accept any first order for less than $2.000. There are rumors that one well-known fashionable couple have paid $5.000 each for the privilege of the first order."

"A Parigi, l'artista maestro del mestiere di calzolaio è Yantorny, che non farà a nessuno il favore di fare un paio di scarpe a meno che il primo ordine non sia di almeno 1.000 dollari. Questo era il suo prezzo diversi anni fa, tuttavia, e si dice che al momento non accetti alcun primo ordine per meno di 2.000 dollari. Ci sono voci che una famosa coppia molto attenta alla moda abbia pagato 5.000 dollari a testa per il privilegio del primo ordine."

1913 - 1914 | Pietro Yantorny for Mrs. Howard O. Sturges

Silk, leather, glass

Source: Metmuseum

Shoe Should Be a Work of Art

“Yantorny, whose atelier is on the top floor of a house overlooking the Vendome, is a Neapolitan with a keen sense of humor which ashes out, at times, in connection with his "terms."[Actually he was born in Marano Marchesato, a small town in the province of Cosenza, Calabria region]. His explanation, smilingly given, is that, contrary to the general feeling, one thousand dollars is an absurdly low figure; that, in order to save himself from the crowd of people who besiege his ateliers, begging for their thousand dollars to be accepted he must eventually raise the sum considerably. “For,” he explains returning to seriousness. “a shoe should be when it leaves my atelier, a work of art, and should I not be satisfied and the foot of my client not be transformed into the perfection of shape, I have to throw the shoes away and start afresh and this must be repeated until I am satisfied with the result”.

La Scarpa Deve Essere Un'Opera D'Arte

"Yantorny. il cui atelier si trova al piano superiore di una palazzo con vista su Place Vendome, è un napoletano con un acuto senso dell'umorismo che si infiamma, a volte, in merito alle sue "regole"[In realtà nacque a Marano Marchesato, in provincia di Cosenza, Calabria]. La sua spiegazione, fornita con un sorriso, è che, in contrasto con il comune sentire, un migliaio di dollari è una cifra assurdamente bassa; per tutelarsi dalla folla di persone che assediano i suoi atelier, supplicando che le loro migliaia di dollari vengano accettate, alla fine è costretto ad alzare la somma considerevolmente. "Perché", egli spiega tornando serio "una scarpa, quando lascia il mio atelier, deve essere un'opera d 'arte, e se io non sono soddisfatto e se i piedi del mio cliente non sono trasformati nella forma perfetta, io devo gettare via le scarpe e ricominciare da capo e questo processo deve essere ripetuto fino a quando io sono soddisfatto del risultato".

1914 - 1919 | Pietro Yantorny

Gift of Capezio Inc., 1953

Source: Metmu seum

The Sense of Beautiful Must Be Encouraged

While there is only one Yantorny, the lesson to be drawn from his methods, which have given him a worldwide reputation, should he ever borne in mind by the makers of fine shoes, and that is that women are appreciative of the beautiful and duly appreciate art in shoes. Shoes are not bought today for wear, is the expression heard on all sides. They are bought to be admired and to invite admiration. It is safe to say that even a Yantorny shoe placed in the window and ticketed $1.98 would receive little or no attention. But ticketed $2.000 or even $25 it would create wonder, admiration and—most important of alike: desire to possess.

Il Senso Del Bello Deve Essere Incoraggiato

Mentre c'è un solo Yantorny, la lezione da trarre dai suoi metodi che gli hanno dato fama in tutto il mondo, dovrebbe essere tenuta presente dai creatori di scarpe belle e cioè che le donne apprezzano la bellezza e debitamente riconoscono l'arte nelle calzature. Le scarpe non sono comprate oggi per indossarle, è l'espressione che si sente ovunque. Esse sono acquistate per essere ammirate e per invitare all'ammirazione. Si può tranquillamente dire che persino una scarpa Yantorny messa in vetrina a 1,98 dollari riceverebbe poca o nessuna attenzione. Ma a 2000 o anche 25 dollari creerebbe meraviglia, ammirazione e - più importante ancora - desiderio di possesso.

Text from: Shoe And Leather Reporter, 1916.

PIERRE YANTORNY | BOOT MAKER IN PARIS
A.K.A. YANTURNY - A.K.A. YANTOURNY
I N D E X

1920s | Pietro Yantorny for Mrs. Helen Crocker Russell

Kid leather

Source: LACMA

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1920 | PIETRO YANTORNY AS SEEN IN VOGUE | PART 1

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Pierre Yantorny

Vogue - October 1, 1920

Source: Gallica

"A foot is tiny, but one needs many thoughts to shod it in a way that combine beauty and comfort in a Lilliputian space"

"Un piede è piccolissimo, ma occorrono grandi ragionamenti per calzarlo in modo da poter combinare bellezza e comfort in uno spazio lillipuziano"

Pierre Yantorny
Vogue - October 1, 1920
Source: Gallica

"Yantorny, ruthless tyrant, realizes that a shoe is slightly unstitched on the edge; he throws it into the fire while the upset owner raises her arms to the sky."

"Yantorny, tiranno spietato, si accorge che una scarpetta è leggermente scucita sul bordo; la getta nel fuoco mentre la proprietaria alza le braccia al cielo sconvolta."

Pierre Yantorny

Vogue - October 1, 1920

Source: Gallica

"Is she Cinderella contemplating the shoes she is going to wear to meet her prince charming? Will she choose those with hummingbird feathers or those made in white kidskin with red stripes?"

"È forse Cenerentola in persona quella che contempla le scarpine che indosserà per presentarsi davanti al principe azzurro? Sceglierà quelle in piume di colibrì o quelle di capretto nero a righe rosse?"

Pierre Yantorny

Vogue - October 1, 1920

Source: Gallica

"When you own a pair of shoes by Yantorny it seems that your feet, under the clothes, are like two tiny and darting mice."

"Quando si possiede un paio di scarpe di Yantorny sembra che i piedi, sotto gli abiti, siano come due topolini minuscoli e guizzanti"

Pierre Yantorny

Vogue - October 1, 1920

Source: Gallica

"When German troops were marching towards Paris in March 1918, Miss Elsie de Wolfe had to run away from the hospital in Compiègne. In the escape, she took her most precious treasure: her shoes made by Yantorny."

"Quando avanzavano le truppe tedesche su Parigi nel marzo 1918, Miss Elsie de Wolfe dovette scappare dall’ospedale di Compiègne dove si trovava. Nella fuga portò con sé il suo tesoro più prezioso: le scarpe fatte da Yantorny."

All text from Vogue France, October 1, 1920.
Translation from French by TheHistorialist

PIERRE YANTORNY
AS SEEN IN VOGUE
PART 2

PIERRE YANTORNY | BOOT MAKER IN PARIS
A.K.A. YANTURNY - A.K.A. YANTOURNY
I N D E X

FOOTNOTE

No hummingbirds were harmed in the making of this post

↧

1920 | PIETRO YANTORNY AS SEEN IN VOGUE | PART 2

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Pierre Yantorny | Detail

Source: Vogue - October 1, 1920

"When we know the price he [Yantorny] asks and the small fortune he requires before deigning to take care of the feet of a pretty woman, we cannot imagine him differently than the owner of a castle in the countryside and a small hotel in Avenue du Bois and traveling from time to time at his plant with a sumptuous automobile, to supervise the labor of his workers."

"Conoscendo il prezzo e la piccola fortuna che [Yantorny] richiede prima di degnarsi di prendersi cura dei piedi di una bella donna, non possiamo fare a meno di immaginarcelo proprietario di un castello di campagna e di un piccolo hotel in Avenue du Bois, mentre si reca di tanto in tanto presso il suo stabilimento a bordo di una sontuoso automobile, per monitorare il lavoro dei suoi operai."

Pierre Yantorny | Detail

Source: Vogue - October 1, 1920

"Things are quite different; when we knock at his door, a short man, shabbily dressed, wearing a grimy and canvas apron, opens it; asked where is his boss, he gravely replies that he has no master but Heaven. Yes, the short man with dreamy eyes, and the worker's hands, is the great Yantorny himself. He will tell you that he lives in the valley of Chevreuse, in a tiny house, he wake up every day at half past three, he walks in the dew for one hour to take the first train of the morning; he works tirelessly, simply eating boiled rice. At six o'clock he returns home wrapped in the old coat that he used throughout the war, immediately after a frugal meal, he goes to bed in order to face the next day the same labor."

"La realtà è ben diversa; quando si bussa alla sua porta, viene ad aprire un piccolo uomo mal vestito, con un grembiule di tela sporco; gli chiediamo dove è il suo capo; lui serio ci risponde che non ha altro padrone, che il Cielo. Sì, questo ometto dagli occhi sognanti e mani da lavoratore è il grande Yantorny in persona. Vi racconterà che vive nella vallata di Chevreuse in una piccola casa, si alza ogni giorno alle tre e mezza, cammina nella rugiada per un'ora per prendere il primo treno del mattino, lavora senza sosta, si nutre semplicemente di riso bollito, alle sei torna a casa avvolto nel vecchio cappotto che ha usato durante tutta la guerra e, subito dopo un pasto frugale, se ne va a letto, per affrontare il giorno dopo le stesse fatiche."

Pierre Yantorny | Detail

Source: Vogue - October 1, 1920

"You see this model - he says one day taking from his collection - a delightful black kid shoe, striped with red leather: "when you look at it, it seems as narrow as possible; however, it is very wide but my art has managed to hide this width. This model took me a lot of time to perform and I assure you that making it I had to spend more money than I had received. I could not reproduce the husband's gesture, when he placed on my table the check; he seemed to say, "You do get rich anyway ..." Oh, he did not know how much he hurt me this fool."

"Vede questo modello, mi disse un giorno, prendendo nella sua collezione una favolosa scarpetta di capretto nero, a strisce di cuoio rosso "a guardarla sembra strettissima, tuttavia, è molto ampia dentro, ma la mia arte è riuscita a nascondere questa larghezza. Questo modello mi ha portato via un sacco di tempo per realizzarlo e vi assicuro che per farlo ho dovuto spendere più denaro di quello che mi era stato dato. Non vi so dire il gesto del marito, quando ha messo l'assegno sul mio tavolo; sembrava dire: "ne fai di soldi, eh ..." Oh, non sapeva quanto mi feriva quello stupido."

All text from Vogue France, October 1, 1920.
Translation from French by TheHistorialist

PIERRE YANTORNY
AS SEEN IN VOGUE
PART 1

PIERRE YANTORNY | BOOT MAKER IN PARIS
A.K.A. YANTURNY - A.K.A. YANTOURNY
I N D E X

Vogue - October 1, 1920

↧

CECIL BEATON | MRS RITA DE ACOSTA LYDIG'S COLLECTION OF YANTORNY SHOES

September 18, 2016, 12:29 am

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1911 | Giovanni Boldini
Rita de Acosta Lydyg's portrait | Detail
Oil on canvass - Private collection
Source: Wikipedia

Although she walked very short distances, Mrs. Lydig possessed at least three hundred pairs of shoes, shoes that have never been seen before or since. They were made by Yanturni, the East Indian curator of the Cluny Museum, a strage individual with an extraordinary gift for making incredibly light footgear that was moulded like the most sensitive sculpture.

Cecil Beaton

1911 | Giovanni Boldini
Portrait of Rita de Acosta Lydyg
Oil on canvass - Private collection
Source: Wikipedia

The conditions under which he would supply a few favored customers were somewhat unusual. Yanturni demanded a deposit of one thousand dollars, from which he would subtract the price of each shoe or boot supplied, though delivery often took two or three years. Once he had agreed to work for a customer, he made a plaster model of both feet, on which he would then work and mould his materials until they were as flexible as the finest silk.

Cecil Beaton

Source: Cecil Beaton | The Glass Of Fashion

1954 - Rizzoli Ex Libris, 2014

Mrs. Lydig’s shoes were fashioned from eleventh- and twelfth-century velvets, with variations in long pointed toes or square-ended toes and correspondingly square heels. Her evening and boudoir slippers utilized brocades or gold- and silver-metal tissue. Some were covered with lace appliqué and leather spats that fitted like a silk sock.

Cecil Beaton

Source: Cecil Beaton | The Glass Of Fashion

1954 - Rizzoli Ex Libris, 2014

Mrs. Lydig collected violins expressly so that Mr. Yanturni could use their thin, light wood for his shoe trees. With its tree inside, each shoe weighed no more than an ostrich feather. She preserved these shoes in trunks of Russian leather made in St. Petersburg, with heavy locks and a rich cream velvet lining.

Cecil Beaton
The Glass Of Fashion (1954 - Rizzoli Ex Libris, 2014)

Pietro Yantorny

A trunk containing twelve pair of shoes made for Rita de Acosta Lydig

Gift of Capezio Inc., 1953

Source: MET

1914 - 1919 | Pietro Yantorny for Rita de Acosta Lydig

Gift of Mercedes de Acosta

Source: MET

PIERRE YANTORNY | BOOT MAKER IN PARIS
A.K.A. YANTURNY - A.K.A. YANTOURNY
I N D E X

1914 - 1919 | Pietro Yantorny for Rita de Acosta Lydig

Gift of Capezio Inc., 1953

Source: MET

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PIETRO YANTORNY'S LEGACY | MUSEUMS & SOCIALITES

September 20, 2016, 1:13 am

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"Pierre Yantorny is dead; an Italian bootmaker in Paris, the most expensive bootshop in the world. His lowest price for any pair of shoes was $300, and he would take no order for less than five pairs at a time.

If a woman with pretty feet came, unable to pay the price, he might make her shoes for nothing; he was an Italian, Calabrese, in Paris.

Yantorny went to school for six months in his ninth year, no other education, worked two years in an Italian macaroni factory from 6 in the morning to 6 at night for four cents a day, then learned the shoemaker's trade and really learned it"

Buffalo Courier-Express, December 17, 1936

1914 - 1919 | Pietro Yantorny for Rita de Acosta Lydig

Gift of Capezio Inc., 1953

Source: MET

When he died in 1936, the news of Pietro Yantorny’s death was reported more prominently in the American press than the French one. It comes as no surprise as the majority of his customers were the wealthy American ladies who used to come to Paris from time to time to get their most fashionable dresses at the Callot Soeurs, Jeanne Hallée, Maison Paquin, Doucet or Poiret. As for the shoes they could afford the entrance fee of “the most expensive bottier in the world”, Yantorny's self definition.

With the exception of the donation made by André Méunier, Yantorny’s grandson, to the Musée de la chaussure of Romans (Yantorny's personal collection with the diary, letters from customers and shoes), what remains of the distinguished production of the bottier comes from the wardrobe of these very affluent American women, and it is now a heritage preserved at major museums around the world.

NY's Metropolitan Museum of Art owns several pair of shoes, thanks to a donation made in 1959 to the Brooklyn Museum by Mercedes de Acosta, the sister of Rita de Acosta Lydig (1880-1929), “a prominent New York socialite”, who commissioned several hundred pairs of shoes from Pietro Yantorny. The Museum also hosts two trunks expressly made for Rita de Acosta Lydig, one of them coming through the collection of Capezio Inc. with models from the 1910s. Some of the models were for daily use, others are “made of antique velvet, lace, damask, and embroidery, with their exaggerated Louis XV–style heels and pointed toes”. The same pointed toes style of the shoes worn by Rita de Acosta Lydig in the portrait by the Italian painter Giovanni Boldini.

1920s | Pietro Yantorny for Mrs. Edward G. Sparrow

Black leather pump, laced and cut out

Source: MET

NY's Metropolitan owns thirteen models made by Yantorny in the 1920s for “Mrs. Edward G. Sparrow, (née Catherine D. Groth) of New York, whose husband's family had vast timber holdings in Lansing, Michigan.” One of them is the same model of another pair gift of Mrs. John E. Roosevelt, 1976.

1920s | Pietro Yantorny for Mrs. John E. Roosevelt

Black leather pump, laced and cut out

Source: MET

Other possessions of the museum came through the descendants of Mrs. Howard O. Sturges (models dating about 1913-14) and Mrs. John Scholz (three models from the Twenties).

1920s | Pietro Yantorny for Mrs. John Scholz (Helen Marshall)

Black leather pump, laced and cut out

Source: MET

1920s | Pietro Yantorny for Mrs. John Scholz (Helen Marshall)

Black leather pump, laced and cut out

Source: MET

LA's LACMA museum hosts five models from the Twenties gift of Mrs. Helen Crocker Russell from San Francisco, the daughter of William Crocker, banker and patron/collector of the Impressionist painters.

1920s | Pietro Yantorny for Mrs. Helen Crocker Russell

Brocaded Silk

Source: LACMA

At the Victoria & Albert Museum there is a pair made for the interior designer Nancy Keene Perkins (1897-1994), daughter of a Virginia cotton broker, then wife of the entrepreneur Henry Field.

1920s | Pietro Yantorny for Nancy Keene Perkins

Gift of Mrs C.G. Lancaster

Glacé kid leather, lined with kid, polished wood

Source: Victoria & Albert Museum

1916 | Nancy Perkins wearing spats on her pointed shoes

Source: Wikipedia

Another American customer was miss Elsie de Wolfe (then Mrs. Charles Mendl, an English diplomat in New York), decorated with the Legion of Honour and the Cross of war for her services in French hospitals and allies during the war. She was an actress, then a renowned interior designer with an anti-Victorian style, owner of Villa Trianon in Versailles. Years later, in 1935 Elsie de Wolfe was described by Paris experts as the best dressed woman in the world.

Yantorny kept a note from Elsie de Wolfe, where she described Yantorny shoes as the most precious thing she decided to save running away from the hospital in Compiègne where she was while the German troops were marching towards Paris in March 1918.

A note for Pietro Yantorny by Elsie de Wolfe

Source: Catalogue of the Exhibition "Pierre Yantorny: le bottier le plus cher du monde" | Romans

1924 | Elsie de Wolfe for Vogue

Photograph by Edward Steichen

Source: Getty Images

The fashion press of the time quite often detailed about other wealthy Yantorny customers, like Mrs. Perry Belmont, née Jessie Robbins, wife of the American politician and diplomat after a scandalous divorce from her previous and well off husband:

“For Mrs. Perry Belmont, Yantorny has just made a pair of buttoned boots with beige cloth tops which are rather low than high, the rest of the boot being made of patent leather. These rather low-topped boots argue a longer skirt, and we hear , indeed, that longer skirts are to be worn; but in fact the skirts worn in Paris are apparently shorter than ever.”

Harper’s Bazaar, 1922

PIERRE YANTURNY | BOOT MAKER IN PARIS

A.K.A. YANTURNY - A.K.A. YANTOURNY

I N D E X

ca. 1900 | Mrs. Perry Belmont (née Jessie Robbins)

Photograph: Mora

Source: Museum of the City of New York

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VALENTINO SHOES BEFORE MARIO VALENTINO | VINCENZO VALENTINO | NAPLES

September 21, 2016, 11:32 pm

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1954 | Vincenzo Valentino, Naples

Source: Nederlands Leder en Schoenen Museum

The origins of the shoe brand “Mario Valentino” date back to the 20s, when Mario’s father, Vincenzo Valentino, began its production in Naples, via Salvatore Trinchese nr 10, nearby the Greek walls.

Vincenzo was a skilled shoemaker specialized in luxury footwear and, according to Mariovalentino.com, he produced shoes for the then King Vittorio Emanuele III. What is certain is that in 1924 he registered for the first time his own footwear trademark ("Elena"). In the 1940s his son Mario started to work alongside him and the future designer moved the workshop to industry level.

Le origini dell’azienda calzaturiera di Mario Valentino risalgono agli anni ’20 del Novecento, quando il padre di Mario, Vincenzo Valentino, iniziò la propria produzione a Napoli, in prossimità delle mura greche, in via Salvatore Trinchese n. 10.

Vincenzo era un abile artigiano specializzato nella realizzazione di calzature di lusso. Si dice che producesse anche per l'allora re Vittorio Emanuele III. Rimanendo alle notizie certe, nel 1924 Vincenzo Valentino registrò per la prima volta un proprio marchio di calzature (“Elena”). Negli anni ‘40 iniziò ad affiancarlo il figlio Mario, il futuro designer, che contribuì alla trasformazione del laboratorio artigianale in un’azienda.

1924 | The logo Elena by Vincenzo Valentino

Source: Archivio Centrale dello Stato

The official registration of the “Ditta Comm. Vincenzo Valentino” took place in 1952. The brand became "V.Valentino", then just "Valentino" and in the following years it was Mario’s name to gain prominence.

La registrazione della “Ditta Comm. Vincenzo Valentino” avvenne nel 1952. Il marchio divenne “V.Valentino”, poi solo “Valentino” e negli anni successivi fu il nome di Mario ad emergere per crescente notorietà.

1952 | The logo V:Valentino by Vincenzo Valentino

Source: Archivio Centrale dello Stato

To find a model labelled V. Valentino just peruse the updated archives of the Dutch Leather & Shoe Museum of Waalwijk.

Un modello cel 1954 con etichetta V. Valentino è conservato negli archivi del Museo della Pelle e della Calzatura di Waalwijk.

The insole label of the shoe photographed at the top of the page

Courtesy of Inge Specht-den Boer (Curator/PR of) | Dutch Leather & Shoe Museum

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1958 -1959 | CLEOPATRA SANDALS | VIGEVANO

September 24, 2016, 7:01 am

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1963 | Cleopatra by Fratelli Manea logo

Source: Archivio Centrale dello Stato

The 20th Century Fox's blockbuster starring Elizabeth Taylor was yet to come (it was released in 1963), but at the end of the Fifties the legend of Cleopatra was all the rage. The production of the movie was already started and the magazine Life had asked Richard Avedon to recreate with Marilyn Monroe the image of the actress Theda Bara who had played the role of Cleopatra in 1917.