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Sock and Pioun

The typical multilayered fabric slippers come from the Gressoney valley, where they were originally used for farm work and progressively embellished and diversified to produce a brightly coloured tradition.
“D’Socka” and “pioun”, which is what they are called in the Walser and French Provençal dialects, are fabric slippers traditionally produced in the Gressoney valley. The first written documents which mention the local clothing and this particular type of footwear date back to 1800. The slippers, used for field work in the past, were made using old garments with a rather heavy fabric. For holidays,
brightly coloured fabrics were used and they were embellished with embroidery for the women. Today, beautiful heavy wool cloths or the “drap” are used to sell them. The sole is made of different layers of fabric which are assembled to add thickness and then quilted vertically or horizontally depending on where they are made. The slippers are available for men, women and children.
Currently, the “D’Socka” co-operative from Gressoney-Saint-Jean, which specialises in making typical slippers fromt he Lys Valley as well as tailoring beautiful regional costumes, is taking care of promoting, adding value to and selling these products.