Roger Vivier

He is best known for creating the modern day stiletto heel and for placing a chrome-plated buckle on an elegant black pump, which became a must-have fashion statement for many celebrities and stars in the 50s and 60s.

Orphaned at the age of nine, Vivier studied sculpture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and his compositions exhibited the concern for form and texture characteristic of a sculptor.

Ava Gardner, Gloria Guinness and The Beatles were all Vivier customers, and he designed shoes for Queen Elizabeth II for her Coronation in 1953.

Perhaps his best known boot design of the decade was the low-heeled, thigh-high, black crocodile boot he produced for Yves Saint Laurent's fall 1963 collection, paired with a Space Age-looking, all-black Saint Laurent ensemble of tights, suede jerkin, short ciré jacket, and helmet-like visored cap and hood.

[9] The boots were a variation of a pair Vivier had designed for a Rudolph Nureyev performance of Swan Lake.