Rose Repetto
Hi my lovely dancers!
Today I’m going to introduce you a big name in the world of dance: Rose Repetto. What a delight it is to slip your toes into a pair of Repetto…! Seventy-three years after its creation, today it is the reference brand in dance. Its city ballerinas have also become a cult.
Start in maid’s room
In 1947, Rose Repetto, mother of dancer and choreographer Roland Petit, made her first pair of ballet shoes at her son’s request. She set up in a small workshop on rue de la Paix, a stone’s throw from the Garnier Opera. The ballet shoes are sewn inside out and then turned inside out for more comfort and aesthetics. She quickly became a great success and dancers from all over the world ordered her ballet shoes.
And Brigitte Bardot created the ballerina…
In 1956, a rising star in the film industry came to Rose Repetto. A dancer turned actress, the young Brigitte Bardot dreams of a city shoe as supple and comfortable as a ballet shoe. For her, Rose Repetto creates the ballerina. Christened Cinderella, she is immortalized in a carmine red version in Roger Vadim’s film Et Dieu créa la femme. This is the birth of a myth. Three years later, the first Repetto boutique opens at 22 rue de la Paix. All the stars of the dance scene come to stock up.
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THE FAMOUS “BALLERINA SHOES” CREATED FOR BRIGITTE BARDOT BY ROSE REPETTO |
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BRIGITTE BARDOT WEARING BALLERINA SHOES |
“Repetto forever”
Originally created for the dancer Zizi Jeanmaire, Rose’s daughter-in-law, the famous “Zizi” were popularised by the singer Serge Gainsbourg in the 1970s. Swearing by these leather lace-up shoes as soft as a slipper, he could buy up to thirty pairs a year and always wore them white and barefoot. Today, many other stars have followed in his footsteps, such as Matthew Chedid, Sofia Coppola and Kate Moss.
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THE FAMOUS “ZIZI SHOES” |
22 Rue de la Paix
The company was given a second wind thanks to its takeover in the late 1990s. Within a few years it regains its reputation in the world of dance and gradually makes a name for itself in the world of luxury. Renovated in 2006, the mythical boutique on the rue de la Paix is a pure marvel: large velvet curtains, dance bars in the booths, crystal chandeliers, stage lighting…
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REPETTO STORE, 22 RUE DE LA PAIX, PARIS |
A little anecdote: Since 1967, ballet shoes are still made in Saint-Médard-d’Excideuil, in the Dordogne next to Bordeaux.