FRENKEN
Discover: Le Monde Béryl
This season, Pauw welcomes Le Monde Béryl. Get to know the brand and its vision in our Q&A with founders Lily Atherton Hanbury and Katya Shyfrin.
The Venetian Spark
Le Monde Béryl began in 2016 with a singular, iconic silhouette: the Venetian slipper. What was the exact moment or memory that made you both realize that this historic, functional shoe of Venetian gondoliers could be reimagined into a modern luxury essential?
Lily: It was the Venice Biennale of 2015 where the idea of reimagining the Venetian Slipper as a luxury product really came into focus. It was the combination of its purposefulness as a piece of very specific design, coupled with its beauty that inspired the initial beginnings of Le Monde Béryl.
"I think we often approach the collections with a design-for-the-experience-you-want-to-have perspective."
The Power of Two
Founding a luxury label as a duo brings a distinct balance to the design table. How do your individual perspectives and creative backgrounds complement each other when shaping a new collection?
Lily: Katya and I still soundboard every decision between each other. I think our ability to communicate and empathise is how we are able to meld our different angles on taste and strategy, making it stronger than a singular perspective.
Katya: Lily's much more visual person than I am, and she can imagine designs in her head. I can absolutely not do that. But for me, when I see something made, I usually know instinctively if it feels right for the collection. And even though both Lily and I have quite different personal styles, they still match somewhere, they’re complementary, even if they don’t exactly match.
Lily: I think we often approach the collections with a design-for-the-experience-you-want-to-have perspective. What is the shoe you
want to wear in such and such a place or for such and such a moment? Practically, we plan a skeleton of the collection, refine that and animate from there. But I think with everything, it’s about constantly learning through making, putting meaning and our point of view into every aspect, every detail without things feeling heavy or obvious.
Beauty in Movement
Your core philosophy centres around "Beauty in Movement." How does this concept dictate the way a shoe is constructed—balancing fluid elegance with the practical demands of a modern woman's day?
Lily: We started Le Monde Béryl with the simpleintention to make beautiful shoes that were designed to take the wearer places
with effortlessness; from the beginning we drew inspiration from a wide range of cultural practices, antiquities and architecture, cinema and dance.
Katya: Every shoe is handcrafted in Veneto - a region where artisanal skills in shoe-making date back to the 13th Century - so each design goes through a rigorous process, fromideation stage to the final production. We constantly fine tune a style before it becomes part of the collection and are always working to upgrade materiality and finish to the best it can be.
Every shoe is handcrafted in Veneto - a region where artisanal skills in shoe-making dateback to the 13th Century - so each design goes through a rigorous process, fromideation stage to the final production.
Lily: Initially, the brand’s offering was orientated towards flats but over the past ten years we have evolved our offering to explore different silhouettes and styles, such as the Babouche Kitten, which has really resonated with our audience. I think this is because they are such an iconic shape that allow the wearer to bring their own attitude and style to them - whether they pick them in black leather or snake effect. Whatever shoes we make, the idea that the shoes are both purposeful and beautiful is always an integral consideration.
Katya: We are also not really interested in trends. It’s much more about making a beautiful shoe than a trendy shoe.
The Evolution of the Classic
From the original Venetian slipper to Mary Janes, babouches, and mules, your silhouettes balance timelessness with the subtle spirit of the moment. How do you decide when it is time to introduce a completely new shape to the Le Monde Béryl family?
Lily: We are constantly developing ideas for new families - such as the new Petra for this season - but it’s not really a science in terms of how we decide when to introduce a new grouping. It’s quite organic in that way and a lot of the design process is intuition and collaging ideas from other styles from the range. Each season is different and is usually a balance between updated signatures and newness.
The Essential Pair
If a Pauw customer were introducing Le Monde Béryl into her wardrobe for the very first time, which silhouette or material would you suggest as her foundational piece, and why?
Katya: It’s impossible for us to pick only one of our own designs but both the Babouche Kitten and Ballet Claudia Slipper have proved to be very popular with our audience so either of these Le Monde signatures would potentially be a good place to start. Lily has been wearing the Petra a lot recently so she might suggest starting there.
Collaborations & Cultural Community
Through Le Monde Library, you foster rich dialogues with artists, interior designers, and writers. How do these creative partnerships feed back into the tangible designs of your collections?
Lily: The Le Monde Community is rich and diverse and very, very circular. We profile a lot of friends of the brand, such as artists Camille Henrot or Precious Okoyomon whilst also working with other very likeminded creatives on projects or stories that resonates across both our worlds. The idea is always to explore how individual creatives think and make, which goes back to one of our own central ideas of learning through making.
A Personal Message to Pauw Clients:
When a Pauw client slips into a pair of Le Monde Béryl shoes to walk out into her day, what feeling or story do you hope she carries with her?
Katya: It’s the wearer who makes the shoe. Shoes are about tactility and reaction; the second you put them on you will have some kind of response to the design. We hope people who wear our shoes enjoy them for themselves and have great experiences while wearing them.