Rose Repetto could never have imagined that the ballet shoes she designed for her son, famous dancer and choreographer Roland Petit in 1947, would be such a success. However, the magic was contagious. Professional ballet dancers come to the Paris from all corners of the world to have their slippers custom-made, and you can see them through the window as they dance around to test their shoes. On another side of the boutique, fashion victims explore the displays in search of their favorite pair, all inspired from real ballet slippers.

Repetto - Paris

Although, first designed as ballet slippers and pointe shoes to wear in the dance studio, they soon innovated to ballet slippers that were suitable for the streets of Paris.

Already famous among the ballerinas, it went under the microscope when Mme. Repetto created the ballerine Cendrillon collection which was worn by Brigitte Bardot in the movie …And God Created Woman (Et Dieu créa la femme). Sixty years later and more than one million pairs of ballet flats, the Repetto shoes are now the symbol for style and comfort.

Bridget Bardot in her beloved Repetto ballet flats (which are named “BB” after her). 

 It became her trademark look and now we associate ballet flats with sophisticated French chic. Almost overnight the company was transformed from a niche ballet-shoe maker to an iconicfootwear brand.

Repetto, is now 64 years old and along with a supportive cast of notable dancers including Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Maurice Bejart and Sophie Guillem, Repetto continues to be a reliable resource to modern day ballerina’s and fashionistas.

Over the years, celebrities including Serge Gainsbourg, Mick Jagger, Sofia Coppola, and Kate Moss have donned the famously comfortable pump. Collaborations with other Japanese design legends such as Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto have helped cement the Repetto pumps status as reliably hot fashion footwear.