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For 60 years, Raymond Massaro has been living and breathing fashion. Carrying on a business started by his grandfather 114 years ago, the Parisian makes shoes for the rich and famous, as well as for fashion house Chanel.
Massaro, whose shoes fetch Euro3000 ($5338) a pair, takes pride
in the traditions of his craft, even using the old pedal-operated sewing machines from his father's era.
"Why am I still doing this? It's not a question of money," says Massaro, 78. "It's a question of passion."
But it hasn't always been that way.
"When I was young, I didn't want to be a shoemaker," he says. "My father was a shoemaker, his three brothers were shoemakers and my grandfather was a shoemaker, I wanted to do something else. My father made me become a shoemaker, but I thank him every morning."
Massaro had hoped to be a professor of French or history.
"But I am doing a kind of history. I've reconstructed the shoes of Napoleon. I've redone the shoes of Louis XIV and I've made a mould for Pope John Paul II. It's a little bit of history. I do it my way."
Massaro has maintained the standards that came before him.
"Everything is handmade. A shoemaker's work is to achieve perfection."
"We are really craftsmen. The business is only 10 people. Everything is done here," he says pointing to the backroom where the workshop is located.
"The head of the workshop has been with us more than 30 years. Once someone starts working here, they don't leave. It's the guarantee of good work. We're a tight-knit team."
Massaro's staff turn out about 1500 pairs of shoes a year, 150 of which are for Chanel. It is such craftsmanship that his 3000 regular clients believe the price is well worth it.
While Massaro has made shoes for the Kennedy family, Elizabeth Taylor and the Duchess of Windsor, he says his biggest challenge was understanding why someone was willing to spend such a large sum of money on footwear.
"I have to understand their psychology and ask myself why are they coming here? Is it for a personal reason or to be more comfortable? Is it for a night out or for something in particular? That's the hardest part of my job - knowing how to approach the client."
Once the customer decides on a style of shoe, an imprint of their foot is taken and a mould is made. Making the shoes takes about 40 hours.
With racks of carefully crafted men's and women's shoes behind him, Massaro holds up the famous two-tone Chanel sandal, an icon of the fashion industry.
"It has been copied a million times. My father and I worked with Coco Chanel to create this sandal about 50 years ago."
With no son to take over the family firm from him, Massaro has sold his company to the privately owned Chanel, ensuring his craft will continue beyond his long overdue retirement.
Motioning excitedly at a beige pump with a jewel ball wrapped around the heel, he explains it was made for Marlene Dietrich.
Opening a case containing several pairs of shoes, he pauses, holding up a pair of elegant satin pumps he made for Barbara Hilton. "All my shoes are my children," he smiles. "I love them all."
- Reuters
