Today spotted on the catwalks and at the feet of the stars, it was nevertheless born from an improbable post-war resourcefulness. A look back at the manufacturing secret of a French icon.
Today we see her on the catwalks and in trendy magazines. It’s hard to imagine that this little translucent plastic sandal was born in 1946 by pure chance. In the midst of a post-war leather shortage, a 58-year-old Auvergne cutler, Jean Dauphant, ordered PVC to make the handles of his knives. The material turns out to be too soft. Rather than throwing it away, he had an idea: what if this plastic was used for bathers’ shoes, so as not to hurt themselves on river rocks? Because if there is no sea in Auvergne, there are torrents. From this failure will be born one of the most beautiful French industrial discoveries of the century.
Because the real secret of this shoe is its mold: molding an entire sandal in a single injection of liquid plastic, in a single block. A first that shakes up the entire sector and makes it possible to quickly produce an almost indestructible pair, with non-slip spiked soles. Called “Sun” and manufactured under the name “La Sarraizienne” from a place called Les Sarraix, in Puy-de-Dôme, it earned nicknames all over France: “Nouille” in Auvergne, “Squelette” in Vendée. It was finally in Paris, in the 1970s and 80s, that it was nicknamed “Medusa”, in reference to its milky transparency evoking the marine animal. The name will establish itself, until it becomes the registered trademark.
What makes the story even rarer is that it continues to be written here. After the liquidation of the Auvergne company, the Méduse was reborn in 2003 when the Humeau-Beaupréau family group, shoemaker in Maine-et-Loire since 1905, bought the historic molds and relaunched manufacturing in France, with 100% recyclable and phthalate-free PVC. And for around twenty euros a pair, the famous Sun model remains an accessible pleasure, despite being made in France.
From the knife to the parade, the road will have been long. This post-war utilitarian object has become a true pop symbol, to the point of attracting the biggest houses: Gucci, Prada and even Miu Miu have reinterpreted the translucent plastic sandal on their catwalks. In terms of personalities, we saw her at the feet of Julien Doré and Taylor Swift. Sold in hundreds of thousands of copies each year, exported as far as Japan, it proves, 80 years after its birth, that an everyday object can become, without ever betraying its original mold, a true style icon.
