Christian Louboutin is one of the world’s most well-known shoe designers; the red soles of his designs have become synonymous with luxury and celebrity. Louboutin now sells over one million pairs of shoes a year. The company sells in approximately 150 department stores and his own boutiques in over 35 countries.
Born and raised in Paris by parents Irene and Roger, a cabinet maker, Christian has three older sisters. As he spent his time sketching shoes rather than studying, he was reportedly expelled from three schools, and left without qualifications. Despite this, he attended Académie d'Art Roederer to study drawing and decorative arts. Having run away as a teenager to Egypt and India, Louboutin returned to Paris with a portfolio filled with sketches of fantastical heels. He mixed with a creative crowd at the legendary Paris nightclub, ‘The Palace’. The club attracted notable figures in art, fashion and music including Roland Barthes, Grace Jones, Mick Jagger, Helmut Newton and Zandra Rhodes. He found work at the famous Parisian music hall the ‘Folies Bergere’ as assistant to the dancers, and in his spare time, he sketched shoes for the girls.
After approaching all of the major couture houses with his portfolio, in 1982 he began an internship at Charles Jourdan. One of Paris’ and the world’s most respected shoemakers, he was hired following a meeting with Hélène de Mortemart, fashion director at Dior. Here he learned the technical elements of shoe design before establishing himself as a freelancer working for famous designers such as Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Roger Vivier & Maud Frizon.
After a brief spell in luxury garden design he returned to footwear, opening his first boutique in Galerie Vero Dodat, close to the Palais Royal and the Louvre. Here he earned his first magazine coverage, with a public endorsement by Princess Caroline of Monaco.
He opened his first store in Paris in 1992; his red-soled shoes, handcrafted in Italy, were soon taken up by Hollywood actresses and Paris’ fashion establishment.In 1994 he opened his first boutique in New York, then in 1997, London. The first dedicated Louboutin menswear store opened in New York in 2012.
In 2006 Fashion Institute of Technology in New York paid tribute to Louboutin with an exhibition of his work. In 2007 he collaborated with film maker, David Lynch, on an exhibition, ‘Fetish’ at the Galerie du Passage, Paris where he designed shoes photographed by Lynch. His Nudes collection is on permanent display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
The designer has collaborated with the likes of Alexander McQueen, Lanvin, Victor & Rolf, Roland Mouret , and Jean Paul Gaultier. Louboutin designed the sandals for Saint Laurent’s final runway collection, which eventually led to a legal battle regarding trademarking over the red soles of the shoes.
A 2021 sale of a 24 percent stake to Exor in Louboutin's namesake brand valued the company at $2.7 billion, but current estimates far exceed that. Christian is now officially a billionaire.
