Legend Of Louboutin
CHRISTIAN
LOUBOUTIN may never
have been a footwear designer if it hadn't been for - perhaps strangely - a
lamp.
"When I was 27,
I was in this shop in Paris and I really wanted to buy this lamp," he
said. "It was really beautiful, but the shopkeeper - who I knew - wouldn't
let me. I'd been drawing shoes since I was 12 years old, but had given it up two
years before to become a landscaper, and the shopkeeper said to be 'Christian,
I'm not giving you this lamp, but why don't you go back to designing shoes? Do
you not have regrets?' I said 'well yes a little, I'm not patient enough to be
a landscaper.' So, he gave me the idea to buy a shop and return to doing what I
loved - making shoes. Eventually, I got that lamp in the end."
Speaking at a V&A talk, hosted by his good friend
NET-A-PORTER.COM founder and executive chairman Natalie Massenet, the designer went onto
describe his liberal and somewhat wild childhood. He was expelled from school
three times and ran away from home at the age of 12 - although he cites his
late mother as one his biggest life influences.
"She was so kind
and she gave me so much freedom," he said. "When I was 12 or 13 I
started going to clubs in Paris. When I bought people home - which I often did
- she would give up her bed for me because it was bigger."
Of all the shoes he
has created in his lengthy career, he says it is his classic pumps that he
loves the most.
"A good pump is
a silhouette, like the bone structure of the face," he explained.
"It's like a beautiful face with no make-up. You can cover a
not-so-beautiful face with make-up, but it is just a mask - it is the same with
shoes."
Louboutin, who is
this year celebrating his 20th anniversary in fashion, also explained the
importance and appeal of one his signature design elements - toe cleavage.
"It makes the
leg look longer," he said. "It was something I discovered when I
worked with showgirls at the start of my career - they always had shoes cut in
that way. They wanted to be able to dance and to look like they had really long
legs. If you have a low décolleté it opens the leg window."
Source: VOGUE
- ELLA ALEXANDER 24 November 2011
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