Christian Louboutin
French designer of red-soled stiletto shoes.
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
Christian Louboutin, born on 7 January 1964, is a French fashion designer. His signature is the shiny, red-lacquered sole on his stiletto shoes. Before opening his own Paris shoe salon, he worked as a freelance designer for various fashion houses. Celebrities quickly took to his footwear. Over time, his brand expanded into men’s luxury shoes, women’s handbags, perfumes, and cosmetics.
He grew up in Paris’s 12th arrondissement, the only son of cabinet-maker Roger and homemaker Irene, who was from Brittany. He had three sisters. In a 2012 interview, Louboutin said he felt he wasn’t French because his skin was much darker than the rest of his family. To cope, he invented a personal history involving Egyptian pharaohs. In 2014, one of his sisters revealed that his biological father—a man his mother Irene had a secret relationship with—was Egyptian.
Expelled from school three times, he ran away from home at age 12, and his mother allowed him to live at a friend’s house. Dropping out faced strong opposition, but he was swayed by a TV interview with Sophia Loren, who said her sister left school at 12 and earned her degree at 50. Louboutin thought, if he regretted it, he’d be like Loren’s sister. As a preteen, he was part of the “Bande Du Palace,” a group of hard-partying teens and preteens that included Eva Ionesco, a regular at the Parisian nightclub Le Palace.
His passion for shoe design started young, outweighing his interest in school. During a punk phase, he appeared in a few films, including the 1979 cult classic *Race d’ep* and *The Homosexual Century*, which drew an English-speaking audience. His first job was at the Folies Bergère cabaret, assisting entertainers backstage. He also partied alongside Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol.
Fascinated by other cultures, he ran away to Egypt as a teen and spent a year in India. Returning to Paris in 1981, he put together a portfolio of drawings of elaborate high heels and showed it to top couture houses. This led to a job with Charles Jourdan. He then met Roger Vivier, the inventor of the modern stiletto and the chrome-plated buckle pump, and became an apprentice in Vivier’s atelier.
Later, as a freelance designer, he created women’s shoes for Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, and Maud Frizon. In the late 1980s, he left fashion to become a landscape gardener and contribute to *Vogue*, but he missed working with shoes. In
- born
- 7 January 1964
- field
- Fashion designer
- nationality
- French
- known_for
- Red-lacquered soles on stiletto footwear
Lore & Background
Christian Louboutin was born and raised in Paris's 12th arrondissement, the only son of a cabinet-maker and a homemaker. He was expelled from school three times and ran away from home at age 12. As a preteen, he was part of the 'Bande Du Palace', a group of hard-partying teens. His passion for designing shoes started young; his first job was at the Folies Bergère cabaret, assisting entertainers backstage. He later ran away to Egypt and spent a year in India before returning to Paris in 1981, where he assembled a portfolio of drawings of elaborate high heels and gained employment with Charles Jourdan. He then became an apprentice in Roger Vivier's atelier.
Reader's Guide
Christian Louboutin helped bring stilettos back into fashion in the 1990s and 2000s, designing styles with heel heights of 120 mm and higher. His professed goal was to 'make a woman look sexy, beautiful, to make her legs look as long as [he] can.' The first pair of red-soled Louboutin shoes were created in either 1992 or 1993, when he used an assistant's red nail polish to add red to a pair with black soles. The red-bottom color code is Pantone 18-1663 TPX. His single biggest client is American novelist Danielle Steel, reputed to own over 6,000 pairs. The red sole is protected as a trademark in several countries, leading to litigation, including a notable US case against Yves Saint Laurent in 2011. Louboutin topped the Luxury Institute's Luxury Brand Status Index for three years, and by 2011 became the most searched-for shoe brand online. The Couture Council of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology honored him with its 2019 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion.
Did You Know?
- Louboutin discovered he had Egyptian heritage from his biological father, as revealed by one of his sisters in 2014.
- He was expelled from school three times and ran away from home at age 12.
- His first job was at the Folies Bergère cabaret, assisting entertainers backstage.
- The first red-soled shoes were created in either 1992 or 1993 using an assistant's red nail polish.
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