Some icons whisper rather than shout. The Chanel two-tone slingback, born in 1957, did both: it quietly dismantled the stiletto craze while declaring that elegance could also mean ease.

Episode 3 of Pump Fiction tells the story of how Coco Chanel turned a beige body and black cap toe into a manifesto of freedom, how shoemaker Massaro gave it life with unmatched craft, and how Karl Lagerfeld (and later Virginie Viard) kept it modern without erasing its simplicity.

Here are three things you probably did not know about Chanel’s two-tone slingback — unless you have been slipping them on since the 1950s:

Come for Coco’s rebellion against Dior’s stilettos, stay for the shoe that proved understatement can be the boldest statement of all.