Let’s paint a picture. French actress and model, Lou Lampros, leaves her glorious Parisian apartment, mysterious red box in tow. She hops in her car, chauffeured of course, and glides through the cream limestone façades and wrought iron balconies perched along the city’s boulevards. As with every bustling metropolis, traffic hits, and for a city that has all but declared war on SUVs, impatience is baked into any interaction with gridlock. 

But Lou is playfully enigmatic Lou, and with a glance at the driver and a shake of her foot, her heels are off and the new sneakers from Roger Vivier, Viv’ on the Run, glisten in their red box. Swapping out her pumps for the classically mod shoes, Lou steps onto the vibrant city streets. The skips and frolics that ensure can only be described as a physical manifestation of the keen French saying: joie de vivre. 

Led by Creative Director Gherardo Felloni, the newest campaign from luxury footwear brand, Roger Vivier, is so spontaneously fun we might just drop next month’s rent on them…

A mix of ‘90s understated glam and early 2000s dad-shoe core, Vivier’s latest release channels a variety of cultural touch points that continue to transcend sartorial norms. The ones that endure ー Princess Diana’s iconic “running errands’ fits, an admittedly attractive John Kennedy Jr.’s sneaker archives, the rebellious spirit of alt-style streetwear ー even in the face of ever, and very often, evolving trends. 

They’re playful, comfortable yet elevated, and their lugged sole allows for an effortlessly secure grip without the heaviness that compromises on agility. The sneaker’s functional design actually stems from the Maison’s Choc heel, first introduced by Roger Vivier himself in 1959. The Choc, with its inward-arching heel, revolutionized women’s footwear at the time, rebalancing the foot through a concave shape that softened the sharpness (known all too well) from the stiletto. Nearly 65 years later, and the Viv’s thick sole and midsole balance reimagine the Choc’s comfort for the modern sneaker. It’s painlessly chic and lavishly understated, and it’s kind of ingenious.

The shoe, made of Nappa leather and a technical fisher net fabric, comes in four main variations: white with either silver or rose-gold leather, black with white accents, or nude coloring with a luminous pink-gold sheen. The Maison’s signature Vivier twist manifests in the form of a mini buckle, with or without crystals, that can be attached to the laces for a subtle embellishment of luxury. 

As if we weren’t already convinced (next month’s rent is really up in the air right now), Roger Vivier, the founder of the eponymous house, boasts quite the esteemed designer pedigree. After opening his first boutique in Paris, he designed thousands of shoes for the likes of icons like Queen Elizabeth II, Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, and Grace Kelly, and, honestly, they had us at Queen. 

The Viv’ on the Run sneakers are currently available on RogerVivier.com.