#BridesTodayExclusive: 5 Minutes With Christian Louboutin
The shoe couturier reveals his creative process, what keeps him inspired, and his must-haves for the Indian bride-to-be!
Brides Today: When you’re in a new city, and it inspires you in some way...how do you make a note of that?
Christian Louboutin: “It stays with me...and when I start sketching, it reappears in my drawings in some form. I don’t really document things at that moment. Sometimes it comes back through the drawing, other times, it happens through photography. I don’t work with documents. The reason is that I think it’s important to leave the possibility to your brain to bring out what you’ve been ingesting, thinking, seeing...to be able to do your own thing. If we look at a document for inspiration, we end up copying it. But when it goes through your memory, filtered by your mind, then it’s really yours.”
BT: Is there anything in particular that you keep in mind while designing?
CL: Yes, I keep in mind that while a drawing is only a drawing, it is also super-important--I can have fun with it, but at the same time this drawing will have a second life when it becomes a real shoe. I don’t try to ‘draw’ a shoe which is going to fit. I let my imagination run wild, and when I’m happy with the drawing, I like to see it translated into a real shoe, not before. Also, if you start to reduce your imagination to ‘Okay, this fits well, or this doesn’t fit at all’, you won’t be able to come out with something extraordinary. So I like to keep this illusion out of the drawing process, and find solutions later.”
BT: Has it ever happened that you have designed something and when you see it in flesh, it doesn’t work?
CL: “Oh, so many times! Every season, I design (or rather draw) shoes that I’m very excited about, and it doesn’t work at all. And then sometimes, certain drawings offer solutions. You see how it plays...change the proportions, or tweak the design. I mean you know no drawing ends up being the perfect shoe in one go. That’s why, from here, I go back straight to Paris, to the factory, because every single shoe that I design needs to be corrected over and over again. That’s a very natural process. And then there are time, simple designs turn out to be the most powerful ones.”
BT: What would you recommend for the Indian bride-to-be?
CL: “Something with a low heel and closed. I mean, you have the sandal but even on the sandal, you can have a lot of variations. Otherwise, if it’s a pump, I’d do one with low cleavage. For Indian brides, movement is really important. If I’m creating special shoes for weddings and the bride gets shoes made-to-order, I always create an ‘emergency bridal shoe’. I don’t tell them about it, but if a bride says I want a super-high heel or a skinny heel, I always say yes, but I also create something more practical and lets you move around freely. Otherwise, the bride will not be able to enjoy.”