Next Steps
When Christian Louboutin was a little boy,
he spent almost every weekend at the Palais
de la Porte Dorée, a museum near his home in the 12th
arrondissement of Paris. Funny how these early memories
stay with you—decades later, the designer is still haunted
by the museum’s doors, designed by an 18-year-old Jean
Prouvé and featuring a pattern of pyramids. Those gates—
along with all the excitement experienced by a young boy
With an exclusive Christian Louboutin
capsule, a new Nordstrom flagship
in Manhattan gets the red sole treatment
MAIDEN VOYAGE
FOR THIS NEW STILETTO, CALLED THE BAIGNEUSE (ABOVE LEFT, $995;
NORDSTROM STORES), LOUBOUTIN IMAGINED A WOMAN WHO LOVES TO
TRAVEL AS MUCH AS HE DOES. ABOVE, THE BAS-RELIEF FAÇADE OF THE
PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉE IN PARIS. TOP LEFT, A WEDDING PORTRAIT
INSIDE LOUBOUTIN’S EGYPTIAN HOUSEBOAT (PICTURED TOP RIGHT).
FASHION
“The gates had black stripes in metal—one part was always
swears will take the light just like those beloved doors; nearby,
another pair features pyramids printed on a silky foulard
to wrap around an alluring ankle. Louboutin says he imagines
their wearer as an intrepid woman—an adventurer who
loves Egypt, as he does. (It is his favorite place to visit, and he
owns a supremely chic houseboat on the Nile.) He pictures
this glamazon wafting across desert sands, bringing with her
only the bare necessities—but, he says, laughing, “She has to
have her shoes! It’s high-profile camping!”
This heroine’s pluck will be celebrated when Louboutin’s
30-odd-piece collection—in addition to the famous crimson
soles, it includes travel accessories, handbags, FASHION>94
VLIFE
92 OCTOBER 2019 VOGUE.COM
PALAIS DE LA PORTE DORÉE: ICONOTEC/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO. SHOE: JUNICHI ITO. ALL OTHERS: FRANÇOIS HALARD.
VOGUE,
2004.
