Christian Louboutin is a French shoe designer, made famous by the signature red leather soles. His shoes are loved by fashionistas and celebrities world wide and worn loyally by superstars such as Madonna, Oprah Winfrey, Christina Aguilera, Kylie, Angelina Jolie. Not to mention the large percentage of movie stars as part of their red carpet outfits.

Born in 1963, Christian started his career trying to sell his shoes to women in dance halls. With limited success he had a single shop in Paris, until he secured a contract with the American department store Neiman Marks. Initially his shoes carried a black sole, but frustrated at the ’something missing’ from his shoes, he noticed an employees red Chanel nail varnish on her desk and promptly painted the soles with the vibrant red shade.

Some stores were slower on the uptake, pronouncing the new red sole “garish” and only ordering the the black soled versions. However,  the change was an instant success, with women clamoring to buy the “red soled shoes”. Those shops stocking the black only version quickly had to return the stock for red, missing out on valuable sales whilst waiting for their delivery. Lesson learned.

Louboutin now has 20 boutiques worldwide, including a flagship store in London,  and despite this success, has achieved it without giving away ‘freebies’ to celebrities. His shoes famously sell from £800 a pair regardless of who you are. Even more business savvy is the fact that the red soles wear out much faster than black ones. This means that women have to either have them re-soled in black or purchase a new pair for the prestige.

He also carries what he calls a ‘bed shoe’ which has a heel of 6″ in his own words “They’re only made for lying on your back.” Despite the recent celebrity fashion for wearing such heels, Gweneth Paltrow being the belle de jour of this particular style at the moment. Even Gwenyth was famously photographed taking her shoes off the second she hit the taxi at the “Iron Man” premiere as the shoes were so uncomfortably high. She should have listened to the man himself.

Christian Louboutin’s new flagship store is now to open in Mayfair, London.

French shoe designer, Christian Louboutin, famous for red-soled shoes, has taken a 2,850 sq ft store on two floors at 17 Mount Street at around £162,500 a year. This is the second store to open in London for Louboutin this year, who also opened a new store in the in Harvey Nichols, London.

Christian Louboutin already have a store in London, at 23 Motcomb Street Knightsbridge, SW1X 8LB, though with the stores in Harvey Nichols, and the new flagship store relatively close (only 1.5 miles away), it is not known if they will keep this.

Mount Street, Mayfair is becoming increasingly popular with luxury designers with recent the recent additions to the street including the classic Parisian designer Balenciaga. Other luxury shops on Mount Street are: Marc Jacobs, Nicky Clarke, and Sautter of Mayfair. There is some excellent dining on the street as well.

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