He’s the billionaire designer whose red-soled shoes have been worn by everyone from Kate Moss to Taylor Swift and, as Dan Ahwa discovers, Christian Louboutin’s three-decade career comes down to an unapologetic lust for life.
The click-clack of heels on cobblestoned streets and parquet wood floorboards is a far
But if the slew of international luxury brands setting up shop here over the past four years is anything to go by, we’re ready for more luxury. At least the world’s most famous shoe designer, Mr Christian Louboutin, thinks so, opening up his first New Zealand store in February.
With eight boutiques across Australia already, it was inevitable the business would look at the untapped potential of our local market. Located at Queen’s Arcade, the glossy, red boutique sits neatly in the luxury precinct of Queen St where it counts other international luxury brands Van Cleef & Arpels, Gucci, Prada, Dior and Louis Vuitton as neighbours.
While images of Kate Moss or Zendaya stalking up a flight of stairs at Paris Fashion Week in a pair of 160mm ‘Maria Frou Alta’ heels might elicit some trepidation, the New Zealand store has a range of shoes in varying heights, including pool slides, ballet flats, loafers and sneakers. There are also hats, belts, bags and key chains, an assortment of products that smartly keeps up with a growing demand for luxury jewellery and accessories, with Ibis World projecting a 3.7 per cent growth in luxury goods across the Tasman between 2023 and 2028. Its popular 85mm nappa leather Sporty Kate heel (named after Kate Moss, naturally) retails for $1595; while its flamboyant Breizcaba tote comes in at a staggering $5255. These are accessories for people with serious money to burn.
As fashion and luxury continue to navigate how they operate right now, an accessory brand such as Louboutin’s is a business template that feels prepared for further growth after three decades in business.
The 61-year-old’s life has been shaped by glamour and design, cutting his teeth as a freelance designer for luxury maisons Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Roger Vivier before launching his eponymous label in 1991. Today he’s reached billionaire status, expanding his empire to an entire luxury universe that extends to bags, beauty products and collections for men and children. But it’s those vertiginous, red-lacquered soles that have become synonymous with his brand, now trademarked in several countries around the world and worn by everyone from Miss Piggy to bonkbuster novelist Danielle Steel, who famously owns 6000 pairs.
The brand has entered the pop-culture lexicon. In 2017, Cardi B’s breakout single Bodak Yellow included the verse “these expensive, these is red bottoms, these is bloody shoes” as a reference to Louboutin’s ubiquitous red soles; and in 2009 by Jennifer Lopez in her single Louboutins. It’s a business that has earned Louboutin lots of money. Exor, the investment company of Italy’s Agnelli family, who bought a 24 per cent stake in the business in 2021 for US$650 million, reported last year that the company was by then valued at US$3.2 billion.
For someone whose first job was working backstage at the legendary Parisian cabaret Folies Bergères, Louboutin’s natural inclination for glamour and the grandiose has remained a constant thread throughout his career.
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Advertise with NZME.But is he still in love with the colour red?
“It changed from the very beginning,” he says. “Originally, I thought it should be a different colour each season, from red to green to blue to yellow, etc. But I quickly realised red can’t be considered as a regular colour.” Inspired by a former assistant painting her nails red one day, Louboutin went about painting the soles of a pair of black high-heels. The rest is history.
“In the 90s, women didn’t wear much colour, it was black and white mostly — a working-girl mood. If you don’t like colours, you’ll never wear orange or purple. But when it comes to red, it’s slightly different; you always have a hint of red on the nails or on the lips. So, I stuck to red. I learned over the decades to love this colour more and more. Now it’s a big part of what defines me.”
With more than 160 boutiques across 32 countries and four continents, Louboutin is one of those rare anomalies in luxury fashion where its roots are in accessories not clothing, a factor that has allowed it to be more nimble, more transferable across various markets where attitudes towards luxury goods and fashion can be wide and varied. It’s the reason the business continues to be active in protecting its reputation in court.
“Quite swiftly after adopting the red sole, it was spotted by clients and press as my iconic signature, thanks to its appearance on red carpets, TV appearances and VIPs.”
“It’s become critical to protect this asset by registering our trademark globally. Since then, we have been keen to enforce our trademark rights in court each time it’s necessary, from Europe to the Americas and Asia; against competitors, retailers (including online) or factories selling counterfeit goods on the market. We’ll never stop. Thanks to this everyday battle, the red sole trademark is protected today in many territories, such as Louis Vuitton’s monogram or Nike’s swoosh.”
The beautiful life is also something Louboutin has recently expanded with the opening of his first boutique hotel, Vermelho, in the Portuguese village of Melides. The hotel is a stylish addition to an already expansive portfolio of properties that include apartments in Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles and even a 13th-century Château de Champgillon in the French countryside. Featuring 13 rooms, Vermelho is another showcase of the designer’s good taste, with rooms that pay tribute to his French and Egyptian heritage. It also displays a keen collaborative spirit, designing the exteriors with the help of friend and Portuguese architect Madalena Caiado.
Over the years, Louboutin has been able to expand the brand’s awareness, collaborating with everyone from English designer Thomas Heatherwick on his perfume bottles to film-maker David Lynch on a photographic exhibition Fetish. In February, John Galliano tapped Louboutin to create the shoes from his now-viral runway show for Maison Margiela’s Artisanal collection. Where some creatives struggle with giving up creative control, Louboutin sees it as an opportunity to find common ground.
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“Collaborations feel very natural to me,” he explains. “It is always about mutual respect, real personal connections and friendship. I like how it brings two different characters around the table, sharing visions and ideas. At the end, it takes you way beyond where you would have dreamt of going on your own. There is no precise process, it depends on the subject and the parties involved, but there is one rule for sure: carte blanche, push the limits of creativity. I have to say the collaboration for Margiela was pure bliss. It’s so rare nowadays to be able to create such a global piece of art as John did.”
That same month he launched another exclusive licensing agreement with Italian eyewear maker Marcolin. “Christian Louboutin is progressively pursuing a strategy to become a complete luxury lifestyle accessories player and eyewear is a natural extension of this path for us,” Christian Louboutin chief executive Alexis Mourot said in the statement.
In March, Louboutin presented The Loubi Show, a celebration of dance and music at Le Trianon to unveil its autumn/winter 2024 collection, combining the designer’s love for theatrics with a show featuring 12 dancers from talented French choreographer Léo Walk’s La Marche Bleue dance company wearing crystal-embellished loafers and sandals.
It’s a neverending parade of activations, openings and parties. With so much happening in Louboutin’s world, how has he navigated his business without losing his bonhomie point of view?
“I believe it comes from my father. He used to be a cabinet maker and once he told me, ‘If you want to make beautiful objects, you have to follow the veins of the woods, otherwise you’ll get splinters.’ I didn’t give it too much attention back then but retrospectively, I realised it greatly impacted my life. Not literally, but I’ve always been with the flow, not restricted by preconceived ideas and instead open to all opportunities, encounters and happy accidents.”
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