Background

Mr. Louboutin was born and raised in Paris's 12th arrondissement. He was the only son of Roger, a cabinet-maker, and Irene, a homemaker, both French, from Brittany. His father wasn't around much so Louboutin spent a lot of his early years in the company of his mother and three sisters.

Education

Christian Louboutin was expelled from school three times and then decided to run away from home at the age of 12, at which point his mother allowed him to move out to live at a friend's house. He faced much opposition when he decided to drop out from school. But, finally, he was expelled from school at age 16.

Career

Mr. Louboutin began sketching shoes in his early teens, ignoring his academic studies. Going through a punk phase, he was in a few films, including 1979 cult classic Race d'ep and The Homosexual Century. Expelled from school at age 16, he soon went to work at the famed Parisian cabaret Folies Bergère. He did all sorts of jobs for the dancers, including fulfilling his personal dream of creating shoes for them.

Christian Louboutin claims his fascination with shoes began in 1976, when he visited the Musée national des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie on the avenue Daumesnil. It was there that he saw a sign from Africa forbidding women wearing sharp stilettos from entering a building for fear of damage to the extensive wood flooring. This image stayed in his mind, and he later used this idea in his designs. Mr. Louboutin then learned the ins and outs of the shoe business when he landed a job with Charles Jourdan in the early 1980s.

After working as a freelance designer for a time for Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, and Maud Frizon, in the late 1980s, he turned away from fashion to become a landscape gardener and to contribute to Vogue but missed working with shoes and set up his company in 1991. Christian Louboutin found the inspiration for his trademark red outer soles in 1993. His artistic yet sexy shoes soon attracted the likes of Princess Caroline of Monaco, one of his early customers. Madonna wore his dangerously high heels in some of her videos, helping to introduce the world to Louboutin.

Over the years, Mr. Louboutin has continued to turn out season after season of imaginative footwear. According to The New Yorker, he sells more than 500,000 pairs of his fabulous footwear each year. The cost of getting a pair of Louboutins can range from nearly $400 up to $6,000. Mr. Louboutin has stores around the world in addition to his Paris headquarters.

In addition to women's shoes, Christian Louboutin has worked to expand his reach in fashion. He branched out into handbags in 2003, launched a line of men's shoes in 2011 and has since introduced his nail polish, lipstick and fragrances. The same year he also launched a collection of men's footwear at a new exclusive store in Paris. In 2012, Christian Louboutin partnered with Batallure Beauty LLC to launch Christian Louboutin Beauté to enter the luxury beauty market.

In the spring of 2012, the company opened its first men's store in New York City, with over 93 square metres (1,000 square feet) of space and located next to its existing Horatio Street store. The first Louboutin Men's Boutique, Christian Louboutin Boutique Homme on Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Paris, opened in the summer of 2012.

Outside of his fashion empire, Mr. Louboutin has taken on some creative challenges. He worked with director David Lynch on a photo exhibit in 2007. In 2012, Christian Louboutin helped design many elements of Feu, or "Fire", a show at the legendary Parisian club Crazy Horse.

On 23 July 2014, Christian Louboutin Beauté launched a range of nail lacquers, exclusively debuting the signature red shade, Rouge Louboutin, at the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship in New York and its 15 US boutiques. In support of this launch, the high-end department store created Loubiville, a five-window visual merchandising display.

In 2015, he expanded his foray into beauty with a lipstick collection. The tube was inspired by Babylonian architecture and Middle Eastern antiquities. As of 2017, he offers 38 tones, divided into three collections. Christian Louboutin entered the fragrance market in 2016 with the release of three parfums.

Achievements

• 

  Christian Louboutin is renowned for starting his own shoe salon in Paris, with his shoes finding favor with celebrity clientele. He has partnered with other organizations for creative projects including limited edition pieces, gallery exhibits, and even a custom bar. His company has since branched out into men's footwear, handbags, fragrances and makeup. Mr. Louboutin's creations - identifiable by their brilliant red soles - have been sold in exclusive upscale boutiques in major cities worldwide.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Christian Louboutin

    (An extraordinary monograph created by Christian Louboutin...)

    2011

• design

  • Louboutin's red-bottom shoes

    (His signature red soles were first created in 1993. “My s...)

    1993

• movie

  • Jeux d'artifices 1987

Views

Quotations: "The shiny red colour of the soles has no function other than to identify to the public that they are mine. I selected the colour because it is engaging, flirtatious, memorable and the colour of passion."

"If you do what you love, it is the best way to relax."

"A shoe is not only a design, but it's a part of your body language, the way you walk."

"A woman can be sexy, charming, witty or shy with her shoes."

"The higher the better."

"I would say that a good shoe is exactly like a good wine."

"High heels are pleasure with pain."

"I'm really not a fascist. Everyone wears what they feel great in, or comfortable with. It's a beautiful day, you have an armless shirt: it goes with flip-flops."

"A woman carries her clothes. But the shoe carries the woman."

Connections

Landscape architect Louis Benech has been Mr. Louboutin's partner since 1997.

Father:

Roger Louboutin

Mother:

Irene Louboutin

Partner:

Louis Benech

References

• MASTERS OF FASHION Vol 35 Heels Part 2: Master Shoe Designers