When I was a little girl, I wasn’t exactly a ballerina, but I took modern jazz lessons for a while and my only companions were a pair of Repetto jazz shoes, the same ones my mum would wear to her own dance classes. You can easily imagine that when I was invited to l’Atelier Repetto in Selfridges to design a custom pair of classic BB pumps (originally created in 1956 for Brigitte Bardot), I was overjoyed. Then I got there and I was completely overwhelmed: with 250 colours of leather, trim and laces to choose from, I regretted not bringing my camping gear as I was ready to spend the night in Selfridges, agonising over colour choices. It turned out the process wasn’t actually that painful as I was expertly guided by my own Repetto magician. She reassured me saying the whole process normally takes around an hour for most customers.
I sort of knew I wanted to make a fairly neutral shoe for the Fall (it takes 4 weeks to make a pair in the factory in France so they will only get to me in September), I also knew I didn’t need another pair of black flats as my trusted Kitty shoes fill that gap perfectly. So I went for “liquorice”, a dark grey with purple undertones and contrasted it first with fluoro pink – which I deemed too girly – then with coral – again deemed too girly – before settling for a turquoise.
If you are interested in doing the same, the service is available in Selfridges until September 10th and a bespoke pair of ballet pumps costs £345.
Traduction – La semaine dernière, j’ai visité l’Atelier Repetto chez Selfridges et j’ai eu la chance de pouvoir créer ma propre paire de ballerines. Après avoir inspecté attentivement les 250 couleurs disponibles, j’ai opté pour un cuir réglisse avec une bordure turquoise. Si vous voulez tenter l’expérience, rendez-vous chez Selfridges avant le 10 septembre. Une paire de ballerines sur mesure coute £345.
