Red Soles: An Examination of Color and Louboutin
I’ve only seen one pair of Christian Louboutin shoes in person.
Christian Looby-whatty, you ask?
You know, Christian Louboutin, the luxury shoe designer? He’s known for his sky-high, red-soled heels that cost anywhere from $400 to $4,000. I follow the company Twitter account so I can drool over pretty shoes and laugh at the fact that I’ll never afford a pair, much less be able to walk in them without breaking something important inside my body.
My boss has a pair of Louboutins. She and I wear the same shoe size. Before she throws them out (like she ever will), she is required to shoot me a text because I like to avoid dumpster diving when I can. And I would dumpster dive for those shoes (even at the risk of ruining my $40 Target boots in the process).
So here’s the question: Why would anyone pay $4,000 for a pair of shoes? Besides the great physical discomfort many of his styles inflict, the price tag that indicates a lofty social status, and of course the luxury materials, WHY are his shoes worth that many hours of hard earned wages?
I’ll tell you why.
Because in 1993, while puzzling over a pair of heels he designed that didn’t feel complete, Mr. Louboutin saw his assistant painting her nails red.
RED. RED. RED.
In a moment of brilliance, he took the polish and coated the shoe’s sole in the vibrant pigment.
In this moment – before most of us even existed – a counter public was born, a bright red, shiny one. Within the circle of luxury clothing items, Louboutin exploded everyone’s minds as he dared to pair bright red soles with all of his shoe designs, no matter how brashly the shoe’s colors clashed with red on the color wheel. A specific culture began to form around the name Louboutin as his fame grew and the red soles rose to become one of the most coveted items in fashion.
Christian Louboutin’s shoes first created a counter public. They and their wearers were daring, fresh, and a unafraid to contradict color theory. Red shouldn’t work with every other color, but Louboutin, as a designer, knew the rules of color. And because of his knowledge of the rules, he could break them – shatter them, even – and create a phenomenon.
But now – in 2016 – Louboutin has shifted his counter public into a public. Wearers of his products are immediately respected by people who know what the red sole indicates. His products are considered a staple by the fashionably affluent, and seen as a dream by those who spend who-knows-how-long saving up for a pair of their own.
What other shoe brand – or any brand – has such an obviously identifiable trademark on their products? My fashion education is only as thorough as my Twitter feed, but according to my Googling and my prior, limited fashion knowledge, Louboutin’s signature red sole is unique.
I really want to go into a history of the color red here, because I believe colors are more than merely design choices (whether on shoes, websites, or the documents we are designing for our community partners). But I don’t want to bore you. However, know that color is exponentially more powerful than you think it is. Use it with ferocity, affection, and above all, knowledge, like Christian Louboutin.
