Travel shoes and tango bags feature in Roger Vivier’s latest collection

The Viv’Tango handbag from Roger Vivier’s spring/summer 2017 collection. Courtesy of Roger Vivier

Fashion consultant and blogger Sofia Sanchez de Betak is the face of Roger Vivier’s spring/summer 2017 collection. The highlight of the new line is the limited-edition Viv’Tango handbag, an homage to Sofia’s Argentinian roots.

The Viv’Tango, designed by creative director Bruno Frisoni, is a bespoke interpretation of the maison’s popular Viv’Cabas bag, the muted shades replaced by a red leather guipure body on a black leather background. The combination of heavy lace, embroidered motifs and little studs amid a delicate scattering of flowers make this the perfect piece of arm candy for a night of dancing.

Sofia, who lives between Paris, Buenos Aires and New York, says: “I love the tango … [this bag] is like a little piece of my land that I can take with me everywhere. When I carry it, I picture myself at a premiere at the Colón de Buenos Aires theatre.”

Frisoni compares Sofia’s “joie de vivre and energy” to that of Roger Vivier’s long-time brand ambassador Ines de la Fressange, who was in Abu Dhabi in October, when the luxury French footwear and accessories label brought a travelling exhibition to the capital.

Sofia reveals that her first memory of Roger Vivier dates from her childhood because “my grandmother, the most elegant woman I’ve ever met, had dozens of pairs of Vivier. I like seeing these shoes reinterpreted and worn by a new generation.”

Reinterpretation is key to the new spring/summer 2017 Urban Nomadic collection. The range focuses on stylish travel footwear, and includes a modern version of the Podium Sandal, inspired by a Vivier design from the 1960s; and two versions of the Romantic Guipure espadrilles, with metallic thread embroidered on leather, or woven cotton embroidery on hessian.