Before Louboutin most of us were taking shoe sole design for granted. With his simple yet brilliant idea he draw all the attention to that hidden part of the shoe we don’t normally even notice and created a brand that sells hundreds of thousands of shoes every year, at prices ranging from four hundred to six thousand dollars a pair.
What makes this shoe designer exceptional is that for him shoes are not just footwear. When designing his shoes he’s focusing more on the psychology of the shoe rather than on its appearance. Christian Louboutin often talks about what inspired his creations and shares his thoughts on what the true purpose of a woman’s shoe is.
1. “The core of my work is dedicated not to pleasing women, but to pleasing men. Men are like bulls – they cannot resist the red sole.”
Christian Loboutin explains that he did not decide to paint the soles red to satisfy women, but to create an eye-catching detail that men will notice.
The general misconception is that men don’t even notice shoes and that they can maybe tell high heels and flats apart at best.
Even if this is true, Louboutin discovered one little feature that no man can resist. At least, thanks to him all men know that red soles mean sexy and expensive.
2. “I hate the whole concept of comfort!”
This is what he told the New Yorker comparing the concept of comfort with being in a bad relationship. “Well we’re not really in love but we’re in a comfortable relationship,” he said.
He explains that when you are feeling comfortable you are abandoning a lot of ideas. However, he does not think that suffering is the price you have to pay for looking beautiful, but he says comfort is not a part of his “creative process.”
“Comfy, that’s one of the worst words! I just picture a woman feeling bad, with a big bottle of alcohol, really puffy. It’s really depressing, but she likes her life because she has comfortable clogs.” If you are looking for comfy shoes, you will not find a pair in one of Louboutin’s stores.
3. “When a woman buys a pair of shoes, she never looks at the shoe. She stands up and looks in the mirror, she looks at the breast, the ass, from the front, from the side, blah blah blah. If she likes herself, then she considers the shoe.”
This is so unbelievably true. Shoes are supposed to compliment your beauty and boost up your confidence. Every woman will first take a look at herself in the mirror and then look down at the shoes.
Your shoes have to represent who you are and reflect your personality. And who wouldn’t want to have a little bit of fiery red in their character?
4. “I’ll do shoes for the lady who lunches, but it would be, like, a really nasty lunch, talking about men. But where I draw the line, what I absolutely won’t do, is the lady who plays bridge in the afternoon!”
Christian Louboutin is not a shoe designer for the conservative ones. Being demure is not compatible with the kind of shoes he makes. Order a rare steak for lunch and talk nasty. Talk about men. That’s what Louboutin shoes will inspire you to do.
5. “I thought, if I were in a wheelchair, I’d like to be in super-high heels. But it’s funny. People have a strong relationship to their body, and it was quite moving, I thought, that this person, who is paralyzed, still cares about what’s correct for her feet.”
This quote is also from a New Yorker feature written by Lauren Collins named Sole Mate. It is a known fact that Christian Louboutin autographs his shoes. He used these words to describe a situation when a disabled woman showed up at one of his signing sessions with a medium high pump.
This is how important shoes are to every woman. Shoes are so much more than just fully functional objects she puts on her feet. Shoes can tell you so much about a woman, where she’s been, what her expectations of life are, where she would like to be and how much she misses something that she’s never had.
6. “The shiny red color of the soles has no function other than to identify to the public that they are mine. I selected the color because it is engaging, flirtatious, memorable and the color of passion.”
If you like the color red much more than the next girl, you’ll know why Louboutin chose this one to differentiate his shoes from everybody else’s. It’s almost impossible to explain why we are so attracted to red things. Nevertheless, Christian Louboutin managed to do it.
7. “Really good taste, you have to forget about it. We have a phrase in French: “Le petit quelque chose qui fout tout par terre,” which means: “The little thing that f**** everything up.”
What better way to end this feature than yet with another incredible Christian Louboutin quote. It confirms the famous Latin maxim “In matters of taste, there can be no disputes.” You are not a Louboutin fan? It doesn’t matter. Good taste is irrelevant. Le petit quelque chose will change the world anyway and the red soles have already changed the world of fashion.
Cover photo: www.thegate.ca
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