designer spotlight: christian louboutin

these days, it seems that wherever there's a high-profile starlet dressed to be seen, christian louboutin's red-lacquered heels are right there beneath them – literally. (take blake lively, for instance, who bought more than 40 pairs at a recent invite-only sample sale...um, wtf?). and earlier this week, footwear news named him "person of the year."

so I've been wondering: what's up with this guy, anyway?

the stats:
from: france
birthday: january 7, 1964
launched shoe line: 1991
known for: red-lacquered soles and sky-high heels

three interesting facts:
1. as a child, louboutin would often sneak out of school to watch the showgirls in paris because he was spellbound by their ornate, theatrical costumes, which he later said served as a primary source of inspiration while designing his shoes.

2. the shiny red soles that have become louboutin's signature were patented by him in 2007. even so, thousands of knock-offs are floating around the internet, despite louboutin's many efforts to halt counterfeit goods.

3. why the red soles? louboutin has said that he felt the shoes "lacked energy," so as an experiment, he applied red nail polish to the sole of a shoe he was designing. "this was such a success that it became a permanent fixture," he said.

five louboutins for which I would give my left arm:








okay fine, six:



top image via million looks.