A Christian Louboutin retrospective: 10 defining moments in the red sole's history

In September 2024 Christian Louboutin triumphed at Paris Fashion Week with an extravaganza of a show starring synchronised swimmers in Mizz Z heels as the iconic shoe designer teamed up with artistic director David LaChapelle and choreographer Bianca Li to stage the chicest pool party you've ever seen entitled 'Louboutin is Burning'. If you missed it fear not, as we take a look back at the numerous ways in which Christian Louboutin's signature red soles have had an impact...

HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Christian Louboutin credits his fascination with shoes and their subversive possibilities with a sign he saw aged 10 at the Musee National des Arts d’Afrique et d’Oceanie telling women that stilettos were forbidden to prevent damage to the wooden floors. The idea stuck with him. The start of his career was as glamorous as you would hope: having dropped out of school, at 16 the Parisian designer got his first job at the Folie Bergères, assisting the dancers backstage. After a few years spent having adventures around the world, he returned to Paris with a portfolio of drawings and went to work with and learn from first Charles Jourdan then Roger Vivier. He opened his first shop in 1991 and Princess Caroline of Monaco was his first customer, closely followed by Diane von Furstenberg, Catherine Deneuve and many, many more.

THE RED SOLE
Louboutin’s glossy red sole is without doubt one of the most iconic signifiers in fashion, instantly recognisable and a playful injection of fun and joy. Legend has it that, in 1993, the designer saw one of his assistants painting her nails bright red at her desk in the studio and was instantly inspired. He grabbed the bottle of polish, painted the soles of the shoes that he was working on…and the rest is fashion history. Each sole is now lacquered in Pantone 18-1663 TPX, also known as Chinese Red.

THE SIGNATURE STYLE
What’s the first shape that comes to mind when you think of Louboutins? Chances are it’s the Kate, the sharp lined, high-octane pump inspired by Miss Moss herself. First designed in 2012, sparked by the model’s friendship with the Louboutin and her love of his shoes, it’s the perfect distillation of the brand’s aesthetic: powerful, strong and super-sexy. Its higher-heeled iteration, the So Kate was introduced a year later and since then they’ve become the ultimate wardrobe staple, worn by pretty much every stylish woman you can name.

LOUBOUTIN MENSWEAR
The world’s best dressed men can thank Mika for the existence of the Louboutin menswear line. In 2009 the pop star, jealous of the joy that his three sisters felt every time they slipped on a pair of their red-soled shoes, put a call in to Louboutin to see if the designer would make him some equally transformative shoes to wear on stage throughout his tour. The commission was such a success that a full collection followed and, more than a decade later, the spike-toed trainers, crystal-heavy slippers and glossy boots are worn by everyone from Ncuti Gatwa and Ryan Reynolds to Andrew Scott and Idris Elba.

ON THE RED CARPET
Is it possible for a red carpet to be rolled out without at least one pair of Louboutins striding along it? In 2003 the designer flew to Cannes and spent three days with Elizabeth Taylor, helping her to dress for the amfAR gala – in a look finished with a pair of green satin Louboutins. Since then the appearance of those red soles at everything from film festivals to awards ceremonies and everything in between has been ubiquitous for decades. One of Louboutin’s most devoted modern muses is Blake Lively– the actress wears his shoes on repeat and accompanied him to the 2018 Met gala wearing an extraordinary custom pair of jewel-encrusted platform pumps.

WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES
In May 2020 Louboutin and his friend, actor Idris Elba, conceived a plan. Desperate to take action in the wake of the George Floyd murder and the Black Lives Matter movement, they, along with Elba’s wife, Sabrina set up a charity initiative named Walk A Mile In My Shoes, named after a Martin Luther King Jr, memorial. Together they designed a capsule shoe collection that launched a year later, reimaging some of the label’s existing styles. 100% of the proceeds were donated to carefully-chosen non-profit organisations including The Somali Hope Foundation that provides access to education for underprivileged children and the East London-based Immediate Theatre that works to bring access to the arts to all. The most recent instalment of the project was released in June 2024.

HIS DESIGNER PARTNERSHIPS
Louboutin has been designing shoes for some of fashion’s biggest houses since the early days of his career when he sketched out shoes for Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent – he famously created shoes for the designer’s final show, a collaboration that ultimately led to a trademark lawsuit. 2024 he was an integral part of one of fashion’s most talked about moments thanks to his collaboration with John Galliano at Maison Margiela. Louboutin created Tabi-toed pumps for the label’s extraordinary, already legendary Spring/Summer 2024 Artisanal collection. The brand recently announced that on the 12th of March 2025, Maison Margiela and Christian Louboutin will release their first capsule shoe collection.

IN POPULAR CULTURE
Like all true icons Louboutins are instantly identifiable by just one name and the red soles have long been regularly referenced and spotted on screen. The label’s popularity was given a major boost in the early 2000s when its shoes made repeat appearances in Sex And The City (pairs that the costume department famously had to buy while other designers gave theirs for free). The brand is deeply embedded in the music industry, too: those red soles have been namechecked in songs by the likes of Kanye West, Cardi B and Iggy Azaelea and the designer also created shoes for Beyonce’s Renaissance tour (remember those incredible silver fringed thigh-high boots?) and Taylor Swift’s Eras extravaganza.

ZENDAYA LOVES LOUBOUTIN
The relationship between actress Zendaya and Louboutin is so intertwined that the designer sent her a trunk filled with 40 pairs of shoes ahead of the press tour for her film, Challengers. Zendaya’s love, particularly of the brand’s So Kate heels, can be credited to her long-time stylist, Law Roach. According to legend, Roach was enlisted to help dress Zendaya when she was just 14 and the Kate Moss-inspired style was the lynchpin of his vision for her. 14 years later her feet are firmly moulded to the shape of the 120mm heels – and she’s still rarely seen in anything else on the red carpet.

THE SPRING/SUMMER 2025 COLLECTION
Showcasing his incredible flair for showmanship as well as his new collection, Louboutin teamed up with photographer and director David LaChapelle and choreographer Blanca Li in September to dream up one of Paris Fashion Week’s most joyous shows. Entitled Paris Is Louboutining, the trio installed a giant shoe-shaped slide in the city’s historic Piscine Molitor and sent the French Olympic artistic swimming team – dressed in bi-colour swimsuits and the newly introduced metallic Miss Z high-heeled pumps – into the pool to perform a synchronised routine. Set against a 1950’s Hollywood-inspired backdrop of dancer-filled arches, it was a riot of colour, glamour, and playful sexiness - just like the Louboutin brand. And it rounded out in style, with Louboutin, LaChapelle and Li all taking their turns slipping down the slide, fully clothed, and into the pool.