- Christian Louboutin
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Christian Louboutin 
Born 7 January 1964
FranceOccupation Shoe designer Years active 1991–present Christian Louboutin (pronounced [kʁis.tjɑ̃ lu.bu.tɛ̃]) (b. 7 January 1964, Paris, France) is a French footwear designer whose father is cabinetmaker Roger Louboutin and homemaker mother Irene. His siblings include three sisters, no brothers. Landscape architect Louis Benech has been his partner since 1997. Louboutin launched his line of high-end women's shoes in France in 1991. Since 1992, the footwear has incorporated shiny, red-lacquered soles that have become his signature.[1]
Contents
Biography
Although Louboutin faced much opposition following his decision to leave school early, he claims that his resolve was strengthened after watching an interview on TV with Sophia Loren in which she introduced her sister, saying she had to leave school when she was only 12, but, when she turned 50, she got her degree. "Everybody applauded! And I thought, 'Well, at least if I regret it I'm going to be like the sister of Sophia Loren!'"
He began sketching shoes in his early teens, ignoring his academic studies. In fact, he was expelled from four schools. Going through a punk phase, he was in a few films, including 1979 cult classic Race d'ep. Under the title The Homosexual Century, the film attracted an English-language audience.
His little formal training included drawing and the decorative arts at the Académie d'Art Roederer. Fascinated by world cultures, he ran away in his teens to Egypt and spent a year in India. Louboutin returned to Paris in 1981, where he assembled a portfolio of drawings of elaborate high heels. He brought it to the top couture houses. The effort resulted in employment with Charles Jourdan. Subsequently, Louboutin met Roger Vivier. (Claims about Vivier is that he invented the stiletto [or spike]-heel shoe.) Louboutin thus became an apprentice in Vivier's atelier.
Going on to serve as a freelance designer, Louboutin designed women's shoes for Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, and Maude Frizon.
With funds from two backers, he opened a Paris shoe salon in 1991 with Princess Caroline of Monaco as his first customer. Her compliments in the store one day when a fashion journalist was present. The journalist subsequently published the Princess's comment helped greatly to increase Louboutin's renown. Clients such as Diane Von Furstenburg and Catherine Deneuve followed. Later ones interested in his stiletto heels have included Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Sarah Jessica Parker wore a pair of shoes by Louboutin for her wedding.
Louboutin and his partner Benech spend time in their Luxor, Egypt, vacation home, which has been featured in Vogue and Harper's Bazaar magazines. Louboutin claims that his unuual pastimes include trapeze flying, inspired by the film Wings of Desire, and that inspirations come from showgirls and music halls--not fashion (or la mode), which he asserts becomes quickly dated.
Shoes
Louboutin helped bring stilettos back into fashion in the 1990s and 2000s, designing dozens of styles with heel heights of 120mm (4.72 inches) and higher. The designer's professed goal is to “make a woman look sexy, beautiful, to make her legs look as long as [he] can.” While he does offer some lower-heeled styles, Louboutin is generally associated with his dressier evening-wear designs incorporating jeweled straps, bows, feathers, patent leather and other similar decorative touches.[2] In 2011, Christian Louboutin filed a trademark infringement of their red soled shoes against designer Yves Saint Laurent.[3] Louboutin is expecting for the YSL shoe to be revoked and is seeking US $1 million in damages.[4]
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 in Paris. 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. "I wanted to defy that," Louboutin said. "I wanted to create something that broke rules and made women feel confident and empowered."[5]
Louboutin has topped The Luxury Institute's annual Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) for three years; the brand's offerings were declared the Most Prestigious Women's Shoes in 2007, 2008, and 2009.[6][7][8]
Stores
There are four Christian Louboutin boutiques in Paris, two on the Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Christian Louboutin and Christian Louboutin Boutique Homme), one on the Rue du Faubourg St-Honoré and one on the Rue de Grenelle.
There are eight boutiques in the United States, two in New York (Madison Avenue and Horatio Street), two in California (Beverly Hills on Burton Way and in Orange County at South Coast Plaza), two in Las Vegas, one in the Design District in Miami and one in Highland Park Village in Dallas. The Miami location was, like many Louboutin stores, designed by Eric Clough of New York architects 212box, has walls covered with thousands of ceramic tiles that display alphabet letters from 28 languages and hundreds of symbols. The arrangement contains messages in plain text and code, poems and riddles, hiding in plain sight amid the jumble of text and symbol. [9] These coded tiles appear in many Louboutin stores designed by Clough around the world, including Sao Paolo Brazil. [10]
In Canada, Christian Louboutin is available from Holt Renfrew. [11]
There are two in London, England. The original is in Motcomb Street. An additional store opened in Mount Street in 2008. There are Christian Louboutin concessions at Harvey Nichols, Harrods and Selfridges. A new boutique is soon to open in Dublin, Ireland.
There are three Christian Louboutin boutiques in Moscow, located on Malaya Bronnaya street (the original), Petrovka street and on Stoleshinkov sidestreet.
In Asia, the first Christian Louboutin boutique was opened in October 2007 on On Lan Street in Central, Hong Kong. Other boutiques in Asia are located in Singapore's Ngee Ann City mall as well as in Japan, Jakarta, Indonesia and Beirut, Lebanon.
In Australia, you can find his shoes sold in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth in David Jones stores. The first Christian Louboutin store in Australia is in Sydney's Westfield Sydney.
Christian Louboutin has two stores in Dubai [12], one in Kuwait and one in Ho Chi Minh City.
References
- ^ Encyclopedia of World Biography
- ^ Thomas, Dana (24 February 2003). "The Sole of Sexiness". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/id/63166. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
- ^ Odell, Amy. "YSL: Louis XIV Wore Red-Soled Shoes Long Before Christian Louboutin Trademarked Them". http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2011/05/ysl_louis_xiv_wore_red_soled_s.html. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
- ^ Cindy Rodriguez (April, 8 2011). "Louboutin Says Yves Saint Laurent Stole Red-Sole Design". http://abcnews.go.com/US/louboutin-sues-ysl-yves-saint-laurent-red-sole-shoe/story?id=13329514.
- ^ "Video on Christian Louboutin Shoes". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIPzNlYTU98. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
- ^ "Luxury Brand Status Index 2007: Footwear". Findarticles.com. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pwwi/is_200709/ai_n19498411/. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
- ^ "Luxury Brand Status Index 2008: Footwear". Reuters. 17 June 2008. http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS186612+17-Jun-2008+MW20080617. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
- ^ "Luxury Brand Status Index 2009: Footwear". Reuters. 12 March 2009. http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS176686+12-Mar-2009+MW20090312. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
Periodicals
- Footwear News, June 1, 1992, p. S8; December 9, 2002, p. 50
- Harper's Bazaar, December 1999, p. 104; April 2001, p. 226
- Newsweek International, February 24, 2003, p. 48
- People, February 10, 2003, pp. 87–88
- Vogue, June 2004, p. 206
External links
- Christian Louboutin Official Site (in English)
- Simpson, Aislinn (30 June 2008). "Christian Louboutin shoes top sexiness poll". Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2221378/Christian-Louboutin-shoes-top-sexiness-poll.html. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
- Armstrong, Lisa (5 July 2008). "How to get dressed: Christian Louboutin, the most wanted shoe brand". The Times (London). http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article4241482.ece. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
- Christian Louboutin – designer profile at Fashion Model Directory
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Categories:- Shoe designers
- French fashion designers
- 1964 births
- Living people
- Luxury brands
- High fashion brands
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