Roger Vivier launches monograph and reanimates Animalier during couture week

During Paris Haute Couture Week, Maison Vivier unveiled Atelier Animalier, a Spring–Summer 2026 Pièce Unique collection presented at its Paris headquarters. Rather than a conventional product launch, the project was framed as a focused exploration of the maison’s archives and contemporary craftsmanship.

Creative director Gherardo Felloni revisited animalier, a long-standing house code, treating it less as ornament and more as structure. Leopard, zebra and giraffe motifs first developed by Roger Vivier in the 1960s were drawn from the archives and reinterpreted through modern materials and techniques, repositioning the references within a current design context.

The collection comprises 11 one-of-a-kind Efflorescence Jewel bags, each handmade in the Vivier ateliers. Embroidery, feather work, crystals, metal applications and hand-painted surfaces transform the bag into an object-led study of technique and surface. The same approach extends to gilets, which translate the maison’s codes into garments with a restrained couture sensibility.

Alongside the collection, the house presented Roger Vivier: Heritage and Imagination, a new monograph published by Rizzoli. For luxury houses, monographs increasingly function as tools of authorship rather than nostalgia, allowing brands to define their own historical narratives in a landscape dominated by rapid digital output and short product cycles.

The presentation followed a curated route through Maison Vivier, beginning in the Salon de l’Héritage and concluding in Felloni’s studio, where the Pièce Unique pieces were shown. Together, the collection, book and exhibition positioned heritage not as a static reference, but as a working resource, one that continues to inform contemporary design decisions.