MASTER SHOT

Legendary shoemaker Christian Louboutin, the man behind the iconic red-soled shoes, takes Bazaar India on an exclusive tour to his favourite spots in Mumbai.

- RADHIKA BILALLA

It was the age of the bell-bottoms and disco, when a 15-year-old French boy named Christian Louboutin set foot on Indian soil 43 years ago... Here he was in Bombay, a city Christian was already familiar with through the many Bollywood films he had watched at a cinema in Paris. This was India...the land of love, drama, and musicals. Of colour, textiles, and history. Of Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, and Sridevi. It was the start of a love affair that would last a lifetime.

Cut to this sunny morning in Mumbai, where Christian Louboutin— the shoe maverick who has turned the world around with his iconic red-soled shoes—is dressed in a bright-pink suit, set to spend an entire day exclusively with Bazaar India. For today, Christian will be taking us to his favourite spots around town. “I went to Chor Bazaar yesterday, and picked up some of the most wonderful things,” he tells us in his polite, French accent, flipping through the images on his phone. “Just look at how beautiful this lamp is,” he grins.