15 Interesting Facts About Christian Louboutin

Are you curious to know some truly interesting facts about Christian Louboutin?

Over 1 million pairs of Louboutins are sold across the globe each year. The man behind the iconic shoe brand, Christian Louboutin, is a world-renowned French fashion designer specializing in shoes. His famous red soles have become synonymous with luxury.

Over the last few years, Christian Louboutin has emerged as one of the most sought-after designers. After countless celebrities and fashionistas have been spotted on the red carpet wearing to-die-for shoes with that signature red sole, Christian Louboutin’s fame grew.

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With all the things we hear about the shoes, do we know enough about the man behind the famous red soles? Let’s find out in the following list of interesting facts about Christian Louboutin.

15 Interesting Facts About Christian Louboutin

1. Christian Louboutin came from a humble family

Christian Louboutin was born on 6 January 1963 in the French capital.

Christian was the only son among four children. His father, Roger, made furniture to feed his family. Irene, his mother, was a homemaker.

2. Louboutin’s biological father was Egyptian

Having been self-conscious about being much darker-skinned than the rest of his family all his life, Louboutin thought that he was most likely adopted. One of his sisters later informed him that his biological father was Egyptian, whom his mother had a secret affair with.

3. He was kicked out from school three times and stowed away at the age of 12

Christian Louboutin’s parents provided him with a better education opportunity, but he declined. Christian was kicked out from school three times for various reasons.

When he was 12 years old, Christian Louboutin decided to flee his home. Later in his life, he claimed that a TV interview with Sophia Loren changed his mind. Miss Loren introduced her sister, who at age 12 also dropped out of school but went on to get a college degree at the age of 50. 

4. He belonged to a group of teen and pre-teen hardcore partygoers

After Christian Louboutin dropped out of school and left home,  he lived with a friend and did as he pleased.

Louboutin then joined a group of happy-go-lucky youths called the “bande du Palace,” to which Eva Ionesco also belonged.

The group members were regularly partying at the Paris nightclub Le Palace.

5. The young Christian Louboutin went through a punk chase

Christian Louboutin went through a punk phase in the 1970s. He starred in a few movies, like Race d’ep, a 1979 cult classic, and the English-language hit The Homosexual Century.

Louboutin’s first job was helping the performers backstage at the Folies Bergères, a cabaret. He was also a regular at parties in Paris. Andy Warhol and Mick Jagger often danced the night away with him in clubs.

6. Christian lived in Egypt and India when he was young

As a young teen, Louboutin was so eager to see the world and so interested in how other people lived that he decided to run to Egypt, where he lived for a year. After that, he went to India and did the same.

Those years spent away from France helped him meet new people and learn more about the world and other cultures.

7. African women forbidden from wearing stilettos sparked his shoe obsession

Christian Louboutin’s formal education involved decorative arts and drawing at the Academie d’Art Roederer.

In 1976, he paid a visit to the Musee National des Arts d’Afrique et d’Oceanie, where he came across an African sign prohibiting women clad in sharp stilettos from getting inside a building. This was done to avoid damaging the wood flooring. This stuck with Louboutin and inspired his shoe designs.

8. Louboutin was a freelance designer of women’s shoes

Louboutin became very interested in women’s shoes and wanted to learn more about them to help women become more self-confident. He started out as a designer who worked on his own.

9. Christian Louboutin was a designer for major French fashion houses, a landscape gardener, and a magazine writer

Christian Louboutin went to work for three major fashion houses: Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, and Maud Frizon. He designed clothing for these fashion brands until he stopped making clothes to pursue landscape gardening and write for Vogue Magazine in the late 1980s.

10. The first pair of Louboutin shoes was inspired by Princess Diana

Christian Louboutin was inspired to create his first pair of heeled shoes by a 1992 photograph of Princess Diana in front of the Taj Mahal in India.

In the shot, the then Princess of Wales was staring at her feet, looking very sad. Louboutin thought it would be nice to have something to make her happy every time she looked at her feet.

This promoted the designer to produce a pair of suede flats bearing the letters “LO” on the left and “VE” on the right, spelling out the word “LOVE” written in Louboutin’s signature red color.

11. The first customer of Louboutin’s shoe salon was yet another royal princess

Christian Louboutin opened a shoe salon in Paris in 1991. Princess Caroline of Monaco was the first person to buy from him. A fashion journalist, who was in the store when the princess said nice things about it, wrote an article that helped the shoe salon’s business immensely.

12. Many celebrities have worn Louboutin’s stiletto heels

After the publication of the report on Princess Caroline of Monaco praising Christian Louboutin’s stilettos, the brand got popular with famous clientele. Louboutin has worked with the rich and famous over the years.

Britney Spears wore a pair of Louboutins  in one of her popular music videos. Sarah Jessica Parker also wore a pair during her birthday bash.

Other notable celebrities known for wearing Louboutins are Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lope, Blake Lively, Nicki Minaj, Diane von Furstenberg, Tina Turner, Catherine Deneuve, Joan Collins, Marion Cotillard, Shirley Coates, and many others.

13. Louboutin protects his brand by fiercely combatting counterfeits online

Now that everything is online, many of Christian Louboutin’s customers find him through his online stores. There are a lot of fakes on the Internet, but the French designer has done an excellent job of protecting his brand.

The Louboutin company has sent Google many DMCA notices asking it to take down sites that sell fake goods. The company also built a separate website that is all about protecting the Louboutin brand.

14. Christian Louboutin is very well-connected

Christian Louboutin knows essential people.

As previously mentioned, Princess Caroline of Monaco was the first famous customer to buy Louboutin shoes. Seeing a famous woman wear these beautiful red-soled shoes eventually brought in other favorite customers, like Joan Collins, Britney Spears, and Jennifer Lopez. The latter even made a song about how great Louboutin’s shoes were.

Just about every other famous fashionista you’ve heard of wear Louboutins.

15. Louboutin’s number 1 client is a New York Times bestselling author

Danielle Steel is Christian Louboutin’s number 1 customer. She is said to have bought more than 6,000 pairs, shopping up to 80 pairs at a time from Louboutin boutiques.

Ms. Steel is an American novelist who has sold more than 800 million copies of her books, making her the bestselling living author and the 4th all-time best-selling author.