These shoes were made for dancing

What do Kylie Minogue and the dancers at the Moulin Rouge have in common?      

Dance shoes, of course, by Clairvoy, the Parisian shoemaker who cornered the market  custom-made shoes for screen and stage.
     
Founded in 1945, Clairvoy still operates from the store where it all began, at 17 rue Fontaine, just 200 meters (650 feet) from the Moulin Rouge.
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Founder Eduard Adabachyan started out making shoes for private individuals, but by the 1960s, requests from the world of performances began to dominate, and now theater, cinema, and even circuses make up 80 percent of the 300-400 pairs of shoes and boots, which the company produces every year.
     
Abadachian's descendants sold the Moulin Rouge business in 2006, but otherwise little has changed. The store remains half classic shoe emporia / half museum, with signed photos of famous artists and a can-can costume on display at all times.
     
On the floor, the smooth red carpet is reminiscent of the cabaret world.  "This is where tap dancers test shoes," says cobbler Nicolas Meistrio, current director of Clairvoy.
     
The Moulin Rouge takeover has secured the company's future by ensuring a steady flow of orders, Maistro adds.
     
Thanks to Clairvoy's attention to detail, dancers can repeatedly tap the stage floor with confidence: the heels are specially designed to distribute and absorb impact.                     

"Shoes for the stage must be of very high quality, both technically and aesthetically," says Maistrio. The laces on the boots exist only to lengthen the legs: the zipper on the outside of the boot actually does the job of keeping the dancer's ankles in full support.
     
Clairvoy regularly makes bespoke shoes for filmmakers.
     
Recent examples include the high heels used in the famous Franco-Belgian production.

Guillaume et le Garon (Me, Me Again and Mama) and shoes from the Roman era by the Gallic cartoon characters Asterix and Obelix.
     
Jean Dujardin slipped in his Clairvoy boots for the film adaptation of another Lucky Luke cartoon strip. "We changed the interior of the boot to make it easier for the actor to look like Luke with the bow-shaped foot," says Maistrio.       

Kylie Minogue approached the company for her 2006 and 2008 tours, the petite pop star ordered four-inch (10cm) heels that she could dance in and walk down stairs without looking at the steps.
     
The company employs five people. "There are about 250 steps in the production of each shoe," says the 35-year-old director. "And a couple can include anything from 20 to 60 hours of work."      

The intensive manufacturing process means the final product cannot be cheap.
     
For women looking for Kylie's style, a custom-made pair of high heels will cost between 1,500 and 2,000 euros, while custom men's shoes will cost around 3,500 euros.
      
It's a price worth paying, Meistrio says, for a little piece of Parisian history. "They are comfortable, they are beautiful and there is something timeless about them."