The materials needed to create the perfect shoe include ‘wood lasts’, a shoemaker's mould in the shape of a human foot - and supporting metal stems that are inserted into heels to ensure that the wearer doesn't topple over. "If you just look at the heel, you are immediately going to see that if there was not the right engineering, it would break.”
Louboutin, born in Paris in 1964, was drawn to footwear from an early age. One of his earliest memories is seeing a sign prohibiting stiletto heels in a Parisian museum, warning of potential damage to the wood floors. In 1992, he set up his own label and his shoes, which cost on average 700 USD a pair, are now stocked in high-end stores across the world.
Louboutin's career has taken some unexpected turns, including an internship at the Folies Bergère music hall theatre in Paris as a teenager. This experience became instrumental to the development of his design aesthetic.
“The shoe is so important because it shows the posture,” he said of the footwear worn by the showgirls. “It has to be comfortable... but it also has to give the perfect shape and elongate the legs to the maximum...” The trick is definitely to accommodate both concerns, in order to achieve that perfect level of poise.
The showgirl legacy remains evident in his flamboyant and vertiginous designs. He even named a stiletto shoe after Pigalle, the infamous area of Paris, and home to dancing girls and the Moulin Rouge.
Louboutin’s influences are wide-ranging and the embellishments on his shoes are inspired by design motifs as diverse as fish scales, Masai beads and spider webs. The actual build of his shoes, he said, is architecturally inspired and he cites the fluid and seemingly gravity-defying buildings of Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer as an important influence.
According to Louboutin, there is no point wearing a shoe that makes you suffer, however beautiful. Though his shoes are specially cushioned to protect wearers from pain wrought by pressure on the balls and arches of the feet, he also believes that all women are different and have different pain thresholds.
But as long as women continue to desire his creations, he maintains that the sky is the limit in terms of what he can design. "For me there ain't no high heel high enough," he declares.
[CNN Logo] Tune in to CNN International the week of 26th September as we examine the latest trends and designs from the fall fashion weeks. For full airtimes, visit www.cnn.com
