Long have I revered his style and panache and viewing his exhibition at the Design Museum in London is an experience akin to arriving home after a lengthy and tedious journey.
Christian, it seems, was always destined for greatness as anyone that hangs out in the same club as Grace Jones at the age of 13 or bumps into Princess Caroline at a random event is not likely to spend the rest of their days in obscurity.
The exhibition allowed many a first time viewing of one of his shoes with (gasp) a BLACK sole made in 1994 and inspired Google hits to find out how much a Louboutin Barbie would cost (its £100 FYI and exclusive to Net-a-porter). Strangely the exhibition included a pair of shoes from his time at YSL and I wonder if Monsieur Saint Laurent would be as generous in the opposite situation given the current legal wrangling they are both embroiled in.
A particular highlight was the larger than life hologram of Dita Von Teese, doing what she does so well, in jewel encrusted liquid diamond stilettos. The images taken by David Lynch for the fetish collection were also more than a little intriguing (is it wrong that some of those shoes didn’t look so strange to me?)
An unfortunate low point was how aggressive the short, butch and attractively-challenged brogue wearing assistants were, especially when they saw an Iphone. It has yet to be explained why they were pouncing on anyone who seemed to approach a shoe barking ‘No Photographs’! (It’s not as if they were painting that will fade from exposure). One supposes it is due to the fact that they cannot afford the luxury they are surrounded by and therefore use what power they have to feel better about themselves. A shame yes, but not even those little Rottweilers could dampen the mood of the red sole sisters that wandered around their ruler’s life works.
Louboutin has reportedly commented that he does not care if his heels hurt women but I feel this was taken out of context. Not to sound like a massive kissarse, but I believe it was aimed at celebrating Tina Turner for performing in his shoes for 3 hours straight rather than berating the mere mortals that also purchase his wares. Seeing the accumulation of his work all under one roof endears me to the man's genius more than ever and those of us blessed to own a pair of his heels left itching for another slice of the action. Those that find his prices a little to 5” heel-ish can also celebrate as it has been announced recently he is embarking on a beauty range, the muse of which is said to be Queen Nefertiti. So your lips can now match your feet as he won’t be charging over £300 for a lipstick… err will he?
All photos taken by Moi - Merci beaucoup!
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