Louboutin, Christian

Christian Louboutin, (born 1963, Paris, France), French fashion designer who was best known for his high-end shoes, which were identifiable by their brilliant red soles.

As a teenage apprentice in the dressing rooms of the Folies-Bergère, the famed Parisian music hall, Louboutin was impressed with the ability of the showgirls to remain sure-footed while wearing huge headdresses; it was then, in the early 1980s, that he realized the strength of his interest in footwear design. Following his apprenticeship at the Folies-Bergère, Louboutin gained experience through periodic work for the venerable Paris shoe brand Charles Jourdan with the master shoe designer Roger Vivier—who became Louboutin’s mentor—and as a designer for the fashion houses formed by Coco Chanel, Maud Frizon, and Yves Saint Laurent.

In 1992 Louboutin launched his own business in Paris, where he continued to use the boutique and design atelier as his headquarters. He developed an unmistakable signature by giving all of his shoes bright red soles. A typical pair of his luxury shoes might also have a stiletto heel and upper parts of coloured leather or exotic reptile skins; prices averaged about $800 a pair.

The influential industry journal Footwear News noted that Louboutin’s trademark red soles were a “subtle status symbol” and were far more alluring than the overt branding of the big-name luxury brands. Differing stories had been offered for the origin of the coloured soles, but Louboutin said that the hue was inspired by an assistant’s red nail polish. He decided to use red on all his soles, reasoning that “red is more than a colour. It is a symbol of love, of blood, of passion.”

Louboutin maintained a high profile on the international fashion scene in the early 21st century, opening a European flagship boutique on London’s Mount Street as well as additional stores in such cities as Jakarta, Las Vegas, Paris, Tokyo, and Singapore. He also began expanding his brand. In 2003 he launched a handbag line, and the following decade he began selling cosmetics, notably lipstick and nail polish. He introduced several fragrances in 2016.

Despite such new lines, shoes remained Louboutin’s focus. In 2008 the first exhibition to be devoted to his creations, “Sole Desire: The Shoes of Christian Louboutin,” opened at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Another (“L’Exhibition[niste],” 2020) was co-organized by the designer and held at the Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris.