Cl & His Tribute To India

In conversation with shoe maverick Christian Louboutin on his passion for India, the colour red, and all things bridal.

- Anupriya Roy

You have to be blind not to be influenced by the vividness of India,” said luxury footwear designer Christian Louboutin in an interview a couple of years ago. One of the first luxury brands to make its way to India, the designer has made his love for the country more than evident with multiple associations with celebrated Indian couturier Sabyasachi Mukherjee. “When I was young, and a little bored during vacations I was escaping reality at the cinema watching Egyptian and Indian movies so the first thing I did when I arrived there was to visit a Bollywood studio, and since then my passion for this art never stopped,” he speaks fondly of his earliest memory of India. A pair of Louboutins, with their lacquered red soles have become identifiable the world over; they carry with them an air of sophistication and an intricate amount of detailing that are still unmatched. “I used to go a lot to Les Follies Bergeres as a young teenager. I was fascinated by showgirls, I wanted to design shoes for them,” said Louboutin. “And approximately in the same years, I saw a sketch in a museum close to the house I lived in as a teenager. I used to go there almost every weekend, it was called at this time Les Musée national des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie. The sketch featured a hi