Maud Frizon de Marco (born Danielle Maud Frizon; 1941 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France) is a fashion designer specializing in women's shoes. She began her career in the 1960s as a model for Parisian Haute Couture Houses of Nina Ricci, Jean Patou, and André Courrèges. At the time models had to provide their own shoes to match the clothes designers assigned them for their

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

shows and photo shoots. Frizon disliked the available shoes from other designers, and in 1969 elected to create her own and opened her first boutique in the

Saint-Germain-des-Prés Saint-Germain-des-Prés () is one of the four administrative quarters of the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France, located around the church of the former Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Its official borders are the River Seine on the nor ...

district of Paris. That first shoe collection, with each pair hand-cut and finished, was praised by critics as sexy and unpredictable. Frizon was an immediate success. Building on the traditions of Beth Levine and foreshadowing the later designs of

Manolo Blahnik Manuel "Manolo" Blahnik Rodríguez (; born 27 November 1942) is a Spanish fashion designer and founder of the eponymous high-end shoe brand. Biography Blahnik was born in Santa Cruz de la Palma, in the Canary Islands (Spain), to a Czech father ...

, Frizon shoes were showy and extravagant, and her name joined the ranks of the

haute couture (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design. The term ''haute couture'' generally refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the ...

boutiques. At the height of her success in the 1980s her reputation was similar to that of Blahnik today. Frizon often used expensive and everyday materials together in unusual combinations:

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and

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, Textile, fabrics, Handbag, purses, furniture, and other items. Suede is made from the underside of the animal skin, which is softer and m ...

and

satin A satin weave is a type of Textile, fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back; it is not durable, as it tends to snag. It is one of three fundamen ...

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

and

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Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a French former actress, singer, and model as well as an animal rights activist. Famous for portraying characters with Hedonism, hedonistic life ...

was a regular at the boutique, famous for her love of Frizon's high-heeled Russian boots. In ''Shoes – Fashion and Fantasy'' Colin McDowell wrote "If shoes can be said to have a personality, none have more so than the products of Maud Frizon's imagination.

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original and innovative shoes that reto footwear what Dom Perignon is to champagne". Although Frizon released shoes under her brands Maud Frizon and Miss Maud, she also designed footwear for

Azzedine Alaia Izz al-Din ( or commonly written , ''‘izzu ’d-dīn'', ''‘izza ’d-dīn'', also written Azzedine or Azzeddine) is an Arabic male given name meaning "high rank (honour, esteem, prestige) of the Islamic religion/faith". The prefix "''‘izz'' ...

Missoni Missoni is an Italian luxury fashion house based in Varese, Italy, Varese, and known for its colourful knitwear designs. The company was founded by Ottavio Missoni, Ottavio ("Tai") and Rosita Missoni in 1953. History Early beginnings The busin ...

and Sonia Rykiel, among others. She is credited with introducing the 1978-79 cone heel that continued into the early 1980s, and she was the exclusive shoe designer at that time for the influential

Thierry Mugler Manfred Thierry Mugler (; 21 December 1948 – 23 January 2022) was a French fashion designer, creative director and creative adviser of Mugler. In the 1970s, Mugler launched his eponymous fashion house; and quickly rose to prominence in the fol ...

and Claude Montana lines. She is married to Luigi De Marco
/ref> with whom she founded and operated her company. In 1999 Frizon and De Marco sold the company and its brands to Helene Wajnblum-Liu and her husband, who added handbags and leather accessories to the line as well as expanding the chain of Frizon boutiques. The firm remains headquartered in Paris, with boutiques in Paris, Lyon, New York, Beijing and Hong Kong.

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frizon, Maud 1941 births Living people French fashion designers French women fashion designers Shoe designers