The Gucci loafer, a type of leather shoe with a separate upper and sole, a low, angled heel, and even a small decorative detail on top of the streamlined piece, has been on the feet of fashion’s big guns for decades. Sometimes you see it less frequently, sometimes more often, but it never goes away completely.
Boss, Actress, Rapper
What do late US President George HW Bush, hippie actress Jane Birkin and rapper Wiz Khalifa have in common? They were all wearing Gucci — we can read in CNN-I.
Celebrating her 70th birthday this year, flat heels are now part of fashion history. In 1984, it was included in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In mid-June, in conjunction with the men’s fashion shows at Milan Fashion Week, Gucci organizes an exhibition dedicated to its signature shoes.
Since its creation in 1953, the shoe has been worn at the White House (Bush, 1974), on the Cannes catwalk (Jane Birkin, 1969) and even on the red carpet (Wiz Khalifa at the 2016 Golden Globe Awards). But Sorano, who became a status symbol, was not disdained by Francis Ford Coppola, Sophia Loren, daughter of the Principality of Monaco, Charlotte Casiraghi, Madonna (in 1995), Jodie Foster, Brad Pitt (in Fighters ClubIn), and among the stars of the day, it was also seen at the feet of Zoe Kravitz and supermodel Gigi Hadid.
Flat heel story
In the late 1890s, Guccio Gucci, the founder of the Italian fashion house, began his career as a porter at the Savoy Hotel in London. Here, he carefully studied the upper echelons of society and was shocked at the spending habits of the aristocrats staying at the inns. In 1906, he opened his small leather goods store in Florence to begin producing outdoor chests and other pieces that would later become iconic.
Gucci died in 1953, a few weeks after his sons Aldo, Rodolfo and Vasco opened the brand’s first store in New York. That same year—inspired by his father’s beloved equestrian motifs—Aldo created the loafer. The boot was already a popular everyday shoe in the 1950s.
The long-hidden piece exploded again in the brand’s fall-winter 2015 collection, then-Creative Director Alessandro Michele introduced the classic piece to fashionistas once again with a few twists.
The big innovation was missing on the back of the AA boot lid.
There was a version lined with kangaroo fur (which was soon replaced by lamb fur), baby pink leather, and an assortment of wool and embroidered shawls. Some people protested the fur trim, but many still called it the coolest shoe of 2015.
Perhaps the secret to success lies in the fact that the shoe is casual, elegant and comfortable yet radiates power. It could well be at the feet of a sloppy-looking model while shopping, or even at a prestigious award ceremony. Today, business men wear loafers with suits, young girls are rebellious in Hawaiian shirts, gold chains, and baggy jeans — patchwork-on-the-chic style, but hey, it’s all cool today.
(Cover image: Gucci Loafer. Photo: Streetstyleshooters/Getty Images)
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