Christian Louboutin built his reputation thanks to his famous red soles. But the impulse that allowed him to invent them is little known.
What would the Louboutin brand be without its timeless stiletto pumps? If you have ever worn them or seen them in fashion shows, you will surely have noticed that one of their particularities is that they have a red sole. This color is the trademark of the French luxury shoe brand.
So why did Christian Louboutin choose such a color? You have to go back to the creator’s childhood to understand. Christian Louboutin, born in 1964 in Paris, grew up in the 12th arrondissement of the capital and often visited the Museum of Oceanian and African Arts, located at the Palais de la Porte Dorée. At the entrance to the museum, there was, at the time, a sign with a stiletto shoe crossed out with a red line, showing that women were not allowed to wear such shoes within the museum. museum. The staff feared for the mosaics and parquet floors of the establishment.
Obsessed with this sign, Christian Louboutin is said to have drawn the shoe model represented there on several occasions. While still a minor, he then rubbed shoulders with fashion personalities and had his first experiences at the Folies Bergères, then with shoe designers Charles Jourdan and Roger Vivier. At 27, Christian Louboutin founded a brand in his name. That’s when he went to the factory that was making the prototypes for his shoes. Disappointed, he discovered “a large black mass”, as he reported to France Inter. On the model nicknamed “Pensée”, a pump with a strap and a small flower inspired by the artist Andy Warhol, the specialist found that the black sole brought a far too dark side.
Looking around, he saw one of his assistants doing her nails with Chanel red polish. He then decided to borrow from him to repaint the sole. The stylist eventually trademarked the idea and it became his trademark. On his site, Christian Louboutin explains his choice in these terms: “At the beginning of the 90s, in France, many women dressed in black and claimed to not like the colors. I then thought, if you don’t like not the colors, you will probably never wear green But you probably wear red on your nails, on your lips… That’s why I decided to keep the red sole. He also sees it as a symbol of an approach filled with “passion, sensuality, strength, love and self-confidence”, a real thumb to the sign of his childhood.
The red chosen is always the same: the Pantone color chart, 18.1663TP. In 2018, the courts confirmed that high heels with red soles could only be Louboutins. Today, this red is also found on other shoe models and even inside the brand’s handbags.