Sunday, 8 July 2012

Day Out: Christian Louboutin


The collection ends on Monday and with Paris and work and trying to get some rnr I realised its next week and Im working all weekend. So I got my ass up and headed down before it I kick myself.

Sorry if I should have gone earlier so that you know if you should have gone. But you can look at it this way... here's me telling you what it was like.


The walk up from the station was a good introduction to the day experience. Walk via the Queens Walk, the river promenade, and apart from seeing the sights of Tower Bridge and the Tower of London its actually a nice relaxing walk. You could always stop off for a glass of wine and lunch or check out the shops in the market squares on route. 


As you come up to the Design Museum, it rather reminds me of the art deco buildings in Miami. Just a thought.


No photography is allowed in the exhibition but I was allowed to take pics just before I enter.


It's all black, not a white wall in site. There is no clear path to follow as you meander through different stages and  settings and read paintings on walls about the man himself. Each area was a different setting. Shoes weren't displayed on a wall, and that was it. It was like an Alice in Wonderland. A mixture of settings in one open studio.

Christian Louboutin wasn't just a a shoe designer but started his career in Landscape gardening.

A bush corridor. As if a section of a labyrinth was in the studio, and you walk through with shoes displayed on pillars either side of you. Marie Antoinette would have walked through this as her personal walk in shoe display.



"Likes rich colour, texture, theatrically of Spanish painting and pop art" I read. Explains the bush...

"There are those who symbolise the look or those who symbolise the walk"

You see a huge Faberge Egg with a mannequin room and photos of his life so far. He once worked in Folies bergere watching show girls. His shoes emanates this by representing the show girl with her tail of feathers, with the front nude and simple, then the heal with big feathers or other ostentatious designs.



The stage. Think back to show girl stages, with a runway and spotlights covered by shells. In this setting each clam shell was a spot light for a pair of shoes, adorning the runway, and on the stage a hologram of a bejewelled shoe rotating. Which later projects Dita Von Tease stripping in some red soles.

"These boots are made for walking but that's not just what they do.."

The Carousel. Shoes on swings The carousel covered in pictures of the designer, some looking like holiday personal pictures.



"There is always something to see including places where you don't expect to find anything. I try to look where others don't"

I think most creative's are like this and agree with this statement. As a photographer we all see the world differently. I too love architecture as does the designer.I just don't go as far as applying it to my job as he does. Maybe I should?. I always tell people to look up. London and any other city buildings have great gargoyles and roof designs and wall work that people seem to surpass as you walk the streets of the city.


The fetish room. Shoes in glass cases and black walls with photographs of naked women wearing his craziest collection by David Lynch. The ballerina shoe, A shoe that is sole-less to emanate the corset and naked peep through look, a Siamese shoe, boots that look like wire, and there you thought it was sexy black piggale.

"some shoes are made for walking, for running, and some are made for sex..."

picture taken from google images.
Exit to the Workshop. How he sketches a shoe, and a look at some men's collection. It was explained on a wall how his father was a carpenter and he was told that a good cupboard maker goes with the grain and not against it. Louboutin has been quoted saying he collaborates with the artisans when making special shoes. Some are one off due to the labour put in. He will not give an artisan a time frame but lets the artisan work his magic to help create his shoe. You can not rush art. 

Enter to a cinema room. I find out that Louboutin is a funny man as I sit and watch an MTV skit on how he became famous, a film on him dancing, and Loubi's Angels. 

As I tried to explain to my friends how I felt about it, I finally said, it has now made it clear how he designs his shoes. The influences from his life and what inspires him. 

All pictures are taken by AlterEgo and can not be used with out permission. Unless stated that Picture is not an AlterEgo original.

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