Towering Infernos

For Parisian footwear designer Christian Louboutin, form beats function every time. You’ve seen his impossibly high shoes--ethereal confections with feathers, bows, ruffles and even trash--bound to the foot by a thin strap of ribbon or leather, and always finished with his trademark red sole. His boutiques in London, Paris, New York, Beverly Hills and Moscow are equally fanciful, with each shoe displayed in a little archway like a work of art. Though he designed for Chanel, Charles Jourdan and YSL before breaking out on his own a decade ago, Christian Louboutin was destined for center stage, and, as he divulges below, the 39-year-old designer owes it all to showgirls.

Q: Why the red soles?

A sole without color, well, it’s sad. It’s unfinished. Red is good luck, and it’s the color of passion. If you look at the woman on the street, and you cross her path and you turn back to see her, the last thing you might see is the sole of her shoe as she’s walking away. If she has something that bright on the back of her shoes, it’s an appeal. It’s a red light, which means green, actually. It says, “Don’t stop.” It’s the only red light that says, “Yes.”

What inspired you to design women’s shoes?

I’ve always loved showgirls. When I was 12, I saw a documentary about musicals. There was a scene like something out of a French revue where a secretary was singing to her boss. There was a giant typewriter behind her, and women in bikinis were jumping out from the ceiling on the [typewriter keys]. It was unbelievable, and because of that, I decided to dedicate my craft to women in the revues; showgirls basically are naked women in feathers and shoes. Well, the birds take care of the feathers. And then there was Janis Joplin finishing a song and dropping her mule into the crowd, or Tina Turner dancing in her really high, high shoes. The importance of the high-heeled shoe, from the flamenco to every type of dance, is huge.

How is the high heel important?

It’s empowering. It gives a definite body language. If you are on a flat foot, the body drops down. Inevitably, when a woman is standing on heels, she’s a different woman in that she has a perfect sensation of her body. She does not forget her body or her posture. My shoes are for fun and feeling sexy. I think my shoes are appealing to women who are happy and wouldn’t trade being a woman for anything. Like my sisters.

Do your sisters influence your designs?

Having three sisters and a mother more present than my father, I was brought up in a feminine-driven environment. I was like a little king because I was the youngest. When there are so many women around, you get to listen to what women think, particularly if you are a little boy--they’re not actually thinking of you as a man, so they are not disturbed by the male presence. I always understood from my sisters the pleasure that women have being women. My sisters enjoyed totally their femininity. Because of that, I always respected the beauty and power of women. When I’m designing shoes, I’m always faithful to femininity, to its seduction and whimsy.

Are your shoes more fantasy than practical?

With some of my shoes, the whole theme has been “dressed with nothing”--shoes where you have the feeling that there’s no structure. You drape your foot on the shoe. It seems almost liquid.

How high is too high?

It depends what you do with your shoes. Shoes can be for different moments. I’m doing some shoes that I call “bed shoes.” Some shoes should only be worn to the bed.

To bed?

Yes. If you take Manet’s paintings, the women are totally naked in bed with mules on. If you look at Helmut Newton’s nudes, the women are wearing high heels. A shoe [you wear] when you’re nude, or in bed, can be really 6 inches high, I would say. But to walk in the streets, too high might be over 4 inches. But it depends on the woman. For some, it’s never too high. I love to design for the woman who feels it’s never too high. Ain’t no high heel high enough. That would be my song actually.

Are shoes like yours an extravagance?

Everybody has an extravagance. The more classical man, his extravagance goes into ties. For women, it [often] goes into shoes because shoes transform a woman, they give a different attitude.

What’s your extravagance?

Not balancing my checkbook. Actually, freedom is my luxury. And in the fashion industry, that’s a really big extravagance.