Who are these people who receive people with slippers?

“When I was little, my mother couldn’t bear to see me in socks at home,” explains Amandine, 31, from Aix-en-Provence it was almost that I started wearing them all the time at home.” In Amandine’s family, the slipper is sacred. So much so that both he and his parents very often welcome guests with slippers. “The floor in my childhood house is tiled, so it’s cold. It’s not nice to walk barefoot or in socks, especially in winter. However, my parents never ask people to take off their shoes at the entrance. First because they don’t have slippers to offer them, but also because they have a dog that leaves hair everywhere and it’s not very clean.

Amandine’s entourage is not the only one who is subject to the slipper craze, as they are everywhere on the catwalks of fashion shows. At The Row, the most sought-after brand of the Olsen sisters, the slipper is covered in “silk pony hair” and sells for €1,590. At Burberry, the traditional ballerina is lined with a quilted leather insert. At Miu Miu, smooth mules in waxed leather 2024 autumn-winter white suede ankle boots for For Mountaineering… Podium slipper is popular.

And with its 36 million pairs sold every year, this accessory is a real star in France. An event where eight French manufacturers specializing in indoor footwear (Bosabo, Chausse Mouton, Esperluette, Heller & Exquisite, La Vague, Constant Bossi, Volubilis and Airplum) took the opportunity to showcase their company’s French know-how.

Socially, in rural or working-class environments, we have a sense of cleanliness. In the countryside, for example, it is very dirty outside, so we naturally maintain a certain cleanliness at home by wearing slippers.

Geneviève d’Angenstein, director of Business Etiquette Paris

Because the slipper is a real thing, for Geneviève d’Angenstein, director of the Paris firm Business Étiquette and author of the book: Good behavior is a gameit is both cultural and symbolic and closely related to the social classes we thrive in. In general, everyone likes slippers, but not everyone is educated to receive guests in slippers we have a sense of cleanliness. In the village, for example, it is very dirty outside, so we naturally maintain a certain cleanliness at home by wearing slippers. It happens much less in urban areas, like in Paris.” The expert still sees a problem there. “What is difficult when we receive with slippers is that we implicitly take the guest into our privacy. The moment we break the wall of intimacy, we become vulnerable. If you receive guests with slippers at dinner, it’s immediately weird.”

Perhaps the reason why Spanish brand Flabellus’ slippers are so popular with urban customers? brands that offer their versions that are hits We can quote Made In France models From Volubilis or the Italian Piedaterre Venezia label.

But for Geneviève d’Angenstein, this theme above all echoes another, deeper one. to the difference between interior and exterior that we notice much more in Western cultures. “In traditional Eastern societies we separate the impure from the clean. Among the Japanese, it’s very ritualistic, so we come outside and wear slippers. There are also climate problems. It is very cold in Russia, so they often offer you slippers.’ Pop culture is there to support this point Far away from the soul (2001), Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece, the Japanese characters walk around barefoot, in geta (traditional Japanese wooden sandals) or in socks when they are in the bathroom, the ultimate temple of purity.Unlike Kim Kardashian, who when she opens the doors of her home In front of the magazine team in California. AD In 2022, organize a visit in heels.

A very French theme

In France, the slipper is one of the interior accessories that we wear at home when we return home. Last month, the president of the French footwear federation, Clementine Colin Richard, recalled that these “emotional” products account for 25% to 30% of shoe production in the country. And that models costing more than 30 euros have been 20% of purchases in France since January seven points more than in 2019. And whether we assume it or not, to wear them, the country remains very connected with the tricolor of the flag. its symbols, the famous Charentes, or, let’s say, the first slipper in history. Under Louis The idea of ​​no difference between the right foot and the left foot so that they slide easily into the jams in the 18th century^e century, they were called “silents” when they began to be worn by valets, who thus roamed the estates of the French nobility. It wasn’t until 1907 that the House of Rondinaud brought them to market, while also producing a unique know-how: a “weave” hand-made felt case and reverse stitching technique.In the 1970s, Rondinaud’s in-house slipper experienced its golden age, with 1,250 employees and no less than 40,000 produced per day. a pair of Charentaise shoes.

Handed over to Maison Rondinaud in 2017, it was finally sold in 2018 and then liquidated at the end of 2019. Taking advantage of Covid, which is reviving the innerwear sector, the company was finally relaunched with its own funds; son of the founders, Olivier Rondino, in 2020. In November 2024, the first store opened its doors in Angoulême.

The renaissance of slipper fashion

“The problem with the Charentes is that it retains this old-fashioned side to many. We also notice that the expression ‘Are you not going there in the Charentes?’ remained. Showing up at home in slippers is a way to let others know a side of us they don’t know about,” says style and image consultant Sophie Malagola. For the fashion expert, indoor shoes remain too anchored in the intimate realm, making it difficult to wear them in public… or with people around you. while taking home.” Even if she notes that morality is changing thanks to the fashion industry and its trends the ambiguity. if you’re in Birkenstock, it’s no shocker. They remain such popular shoes that can be worn both outdoors and indoors. This democratization of some super-comfortable brands like Scholl and even Ugg can make it cool. which was once considered old-fashioned.It all depends on how you wear them, it remains a matter of style. I believe that if people come to your house a little bit unexpectedly, it works.”

We’re still seeing the neat shape emerge among the new urbanites in their thirties who take it easier with slippers.

Geneviève d’Angenstein, director of Business Etiquette Paris

Indeed, fashion seems to have focused on slippers for some time now. We remember the fashion designer Amélie Pichard, who in 2020 released 28 examples of slippers designed in collaboration with the oldest family workshop in the French Charentaises. A denim model laser engraved with the designer’s logo, one of which was encrusted with Swarovski rhinestones. Since then, the clothing industry has adapted to the desire for comfort that has been increasingly seen since the pandemic.

“We’re still seeing a trend emerging among the new residents of thirty-one cities who are more welcoming with slippers,” notes Genevieve d’Angenstein.For her part, Sophie Malagola has seen how on social media for several years famous people playing with slippers. . They are all in pajamas and slippers. It’s any other way to suggest that you have indoor clothing and to appease those who don’t dare to wear it in front of someone. And whether we like it or not, comfort will always be paramount in indoor clothing.”

So, is it a good or bad idea to open the door to your guests? Welcoming people home with slippers is like an acquaintance, concludes Genevieve d’Angenstein. Generally, the oldest or most important person imposes an acquaintance. If you impose a slipper on someone older than you, it is a mistake of good manners.” And even if dinnertime is impossible to do without your encouragement, this etiquette enthusiast has a solution to end the embarrassment right at the door: . Even if, as long as we respect people, we remain well dressed. So it all depends on who you get.”