2011

The shoes with the scarlet soles so distinctive their creator has even trademarked them, are to be celebrated in a retrospective at the Design Museum in London next year. By way of consolation that there are still quite a few months to wait until it actually materialises, here are some interesting facts about the designer:

– Rather than a fashion degree or formal qualifications, C.Louboutin learned his craft interning at the Paris Cabaret Folies Bergère, starting at the young age of 16.

– He still loves all things ‘showgirl’ related, which explains why both Dita Von Teese and a number of trapezes (on which Louboutin is a skilled practitioner) will both feature at the museum exhibition.

– He hasn’t always been making shoes. There was a time when he took a breather from the world of fashion footwear and worked as a garden designer, before he launched his own business.

– Despite being in some cases so vertiginous, that they are near impossible to walk in and the fact that their price tags would turn the average bank account the same colour as the soles themselves, they inspire true devotion in their fans. Apparently, there are 3,000 women who each own 500 pairs on the company’s books, and one who owns more than 6,000 pairs, “I do know who she is, but I’m not allowed to say,” explained the designer.