christian louboutin

About christian louboutin

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Christian Louboutin was born in a working class neighborhood of Paris. While still a mere child, he discovered the city nightlife at The Palace, the legendary nightclub that opened in 1978, and was baptized in a world of high fashion and glamour. As the story goes, in 1979, as he was walking alongside the streets of Paris, he noticed a billboard that instructed women tourists not to scratch the wooden floor in front of the Museum of Oceanic Art. Louboutin felt personally bothered by this sign, and, as a consequence, he would draw shoes with compressed buckles and with soles. He admits to having spent a lot of time as a teenager drawing these types of shoes in his school notebooks. These shoes would become the base of Louboutin's sales as a designer.

Later on, Louboutin began attending parties and dance halls in Paris, offering his shoes to women at these events and venues. Most of the ladies rejected his shoes, claiming to have no money. His passion for dancing and showgirls increasingly disrupted his schoolwork. He was just sixteen when he tried to sell his first designs to music hall dancers. In fact, Christian Louboutin's apprenticeship really began at the Follies Bergeres and progressed when he went to work with Charles Jourdan in Romans and shortly afterwards started working free-lance for house including Maud Frison, Chanel, Ives St-Laurent and Sidonie Larizzi, both in France and in Italy. In 1988, he joined Roger Vivier, an associate of Christian Dior's and a living legend in designer footwear; while preparing a retrospective of Vivier's work, Christian Louboutin came across such immortal shoes as those worn at the coronation of the Shah of Iran, and Marlene Dietrich's diamond pumps.

In 1992, he opened in flagship boutique in Paris and the Christian Louboutin brand was born. His store became distinguished not only because of his clientele, but also because he offered free coffee to shoppers. Such other sellers such as American company Neiman Marcus began to sell Louboutin's designs. His first styles (Love, Trash, etc.) displayed an impossibly feminine shoe. Combining wit with glamour, they were immediately spotted by the fashion industry and the cognoscenti. And the hand crafting in Italy went on to guarantee an incomparable finish. His inspiration? A love of gardens and a passion for the Orient: after traveling from Uzbekistan to Jordan, he decided to build a castle, of sand, on the Left Bank of the Nile at Luxor, Egypt.

Since then, Christian Louboutin's be-jeweled heels have embodied the perfect blend of beauty and sex appeal for elegant women and celebrities around the world. These delicate shoes, recognizable for their immaculately lacquered red soles, are admired on the most beautiful actresses including Nicole Kidman, Catherine Deneuve, Cameron Diaz, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kirsten Dunst, Angelina Jolie..., and singers; Gwen Stefani, Destiny's Child, Tina Turner, Janet Jackson... along with assorted royals.

They also adorn the most elite of fashion shows: in the last decade, Christian Louboutin collaborated with a wide range of designers, such as Chloe, Lanvin, Roland Mouret, Diane van Furstenberg, Alexander McQueen, Victor & Rolf and for years provided the shoes that accompanied Jean-Paul Gaultier's designs. For Yves Saint-Laurent's last fashion show, the sandal worn at the finale was designed by Christian Louboutin, and resulted in the creation of a brand "Christian Louboutin for Yves Saint-Laurent Haute Couture 1962-2002," the one and only time that the great couturier allowed his name to be linked with another.

Today Christian Louboutin is branching out: he has launched a line of handbags, which echo is shoe collection. They share a sense of creativity and high-end finish, but are so distinctively styled as to be worn or carried as separates.

The Christian Louboutin brand can be found from Los Angeles to Hong Kong in world-famous department stores like Neiman Marcus, Barney's, Harvey Nichols, Bergdorf-Goodman, Joyce, Jeffrey...The red-soled shoes are also distributed in bijoux boutiques in uptown and downtown New York, London, Los Angeles, and Moscow, and in Paris's two flagship stores. Every boutique was designed and decorated by Christian Louboutin himself, and are all a reflection of the Louboutin spirit. While different, and each adorned with furniture from around the globe, they all express "un certain je ne sais quoi" which epitomizes the aesthetic of the brand: the Parisian style, of the highest quality and elegance and a wholehearted dedication to women.

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