In the gamut of men’s footwear, there has always been a particular loucheness to the slipper: the Albert slipper, named after Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria, was designed for men of the 19th century to move from dinner table to smoking room without damaging rugs or carpets with the dirt and soot of the street. Oftentimes in velvet – to match tuxedos and smoking jackets – they came to symbolise the suave and the urbane, resurging in midcentury Hollywood among its light-footed leading men.
Another half-century on, the men’s slipper looks set for ubiquity once again. Earlier this month, I was talking to the founder of a London-based skatewear label (and one of fashion’s most influential figures), who told me that he was currently fixated on the slipper: in particular, those produced by the French shirtmaker Charvet on Paris’ storied Place Vendôme, around the corner from The Ritz. Cut from soft suede with their own matching carry case, they are the essence of simplicity: a slip-on style with gently cushioned sole, embossed with the looping Charvet emblem as if a particularly luxurious hotel slipper. He was trying to make his way through every colour, which span classic brown, tan and navy, as well as powdery blue, pink and sanguine red.
