Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Louboutin Overcoming Social Issues
The Louboutin brand has managed to stay away from negative publicity throughout its lifespan. Christian Louboutin was quoted in Dana Thomas', Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster, saying, "If you do luxury, you have to treat people in a human way and you have to be elegant. You can’t ask poor people in bad conditions to make beautiful things.” For this reason, I don't think we ever have to worry about Louboutin taking part in any scandalous, unethical behavior. I'm pretty sure his workers are treated fairly and respectfully. However, if something happens and he does end up in the tabloids for something negative, I think Louboutin would handle it in a very professional manner. He would probably offer some form of public apology and make amends to all that he wronged. He would then make sure his brand focuses on positive things until the negative attention has died down.
Ideas For Going Green
Louboutin should implement ways for his customers to contribute to a more sustainabe environment. There are a few ideas I thought of that would work perfectly for this brand. Here goes...
1.) Since Louboutin has been known to take risks with his designs, I thought it would be amazing if he created a limited edition "Give Back to the Air" shoe. He could come up with a way to have actual plants growing out of the shoe. The lucky owners of this fabulous shoe would have to care for it like they would any other plant. It would be beautifully creative if he could actually pull this off. And as you walk around, of course, the plants would be emitting oxygen into the air, making this a better environment for all of us.
2.) Louboutin could offer incentives for customers who bring back shoes when they are done with them. The materials from the returned shoes can be used for production of other shoes. It would become a cycle and the company wouldn't have to use up as many new materials. Incentives offered could include: discounts, freebies, parties, or etc.
3.)Louboutin could plant a tree for every product that is sold.
These efforts are not big at all, but they could definitely help in making the world a more sustainable environment.
Louboutin Corporate Profile
The Louboutin brand is a sole proprietorship from Christian Louboutin. It is corporately located in Paris, France.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Louboutin Legal Battle
He is the stiletto-maker to the stars, beloved as much for his designs as for the air of exclusivity that one of his red-soled creations bestows upon its owner. But now Christian Louboutin is himself seeing red over attempts by rivals from New Look to Miu Miu to allegedly "copy his signature" by finishing off their own shoes with a splash of red paint.
The famed French designer, whose fans range from Angelina Jolie to Princess Caroline of Monaco, has launched an unprecedented crackdown, starting with an attempt to trademark his famous red soles in the US. The fight looks set to spread to the UK, and retailers such as River Island and Asda could be barred from selling Louboutin lookalikes.
The designer's attack was sparked by this summer's outbreak of Louboutin fever that has seen even nail technicians finishing off a manicure with a flash of red under the nail tip. Corporate giants such as BMW have also succumbed: a recent ad featured a woman snapping off the right heel of a red-soled pair of stilettos so she could go for a drive. And in her new book, The Naughty Girl's Guide to Life, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson advises the cash-strapped to opt for a DIY Louboutin with a bottle of red nail varnish.
Louboutin's trademark application has pitched him into a legal battle with New York-based footwear brand oh...DEER! which was launched last year promising that all its styles would "possess the ever-popular red soles". Deer Stags, the brand's parent company, denies infringing the trademark and is trying to block Louboutin's move by filing an opposition with the US Trademark Office.
Louboutin first used the red sole "by accident", applying red nail polish on a whim to "energise" his creation in 1992. "The shiny red colour of the soles has no function other than to identify to the public that the shoes are mine... It attracts men to the women who wear my shoes," he told the US Trademark Office.
Susan Scafidi, a law professor who edits counterfeitchic.com, said Deer Stags' best hope of beating Louboutin would be to claim "aesthetic function" for their own soles in that the red matches other parts of their design.
Publication: The Independent
Article: Shoe maestro Louboutin sees red as rivals 'mimic' signature sole
September 9, 2007
Susie Mesure
URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/shoe-maestro-louboutin-sees-red-as-rivals-mimic-signature-sole-401843.html
The famed French designer, whose fans range from Angelina Jolie to Princess Caroline of Monaco, has launched an unprecedented crackdown, starting with an attempt to trademark his famous red soles in the US. The fight looks set to spread to the UK, and retailers such as River Island and Asda could be barred from selling Louboutin lookalikes.
The designer's attack was sparked by this summer's outbreak of Louboutin fever that has seen even nail technicians finishing off a manicure with a flash of red under the nail tip. Corporate giants such as BMW have also succumbed: a recent ad featured a woman snapping off the right heel of a red-soled pair of stilettos so she could go for a drive. And in her new book, The Naughty Girl's Guide to Life, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson advises the cash-strapped to opt for a DIY Louboutin with a bottle of red nail varnish.
Louboutin's trademark application has pitched him into a legal battle with New York-based footwear brand oh...DEER! which was launched last year promising that all its styles would "possess the ever-popular red soles". Deer Stags, the brand's parent company, denies infringing the trademark and is trying to block Louboutin's move by filing an opposition with the US Trademark Office.
Louboutin first used the red sole "by accident", applying red nail polish on a whim to "energise" his creation in 1992. "The shiny red colour of the soles has no function other than to identify to the public that the shoes are mine... It attracts men to the women who wear my shoes," he told the US Trademark Office.
Susan Scafidi, a law professor who edits counterfeitchic.com, said Deer Stags' best hope of beating Louboutin would be to claim "aesthetic function" for their own soles in that the red matches other parts of their design.
Publication: The Independent
Article: Shoe maestro Louboutin sees red as rivals 'mimic' signature sole
September 9, 2007
Susie Mesure
URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/shoe-maestro-louboutin-sees-red-as-rivals-mimic-signature-sole-401843.html
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Louboutin Product
Feeling Disturbed? 
Not many women are FIERCE enough to pull these off, so you're guaranteed to stand out in the crowd. They're a limited collection so purchase them today from a louboutin boutique near you.
If You Aren't, Then You should Be!
And these Louboutin for Rodarte shoes are the perfect way to bring out your inner "Disturbia"
Goth Couture is definitely in and you're sure to cause quite a scream wearing these.
They feature a 5.5 inch heel and killer spikes protruding off the top and the straps. Wear these and others will know to "Beware".
They feature a 5.5 inch heel and killer spikes protruding off the top and the straps. Wear these and others will know to "Beware".Not many women are FIERCE enough to pull these off, so you're guaranteed to stand out in the crowd. They're a limited collection so purchase them today from a louboutin boutique near you.Article 1: Sole Control
Christian Louboutin appeared at Bergdorf Goodman today to autograph his famous red soles. We pushed to the front to ask His Loubness if he'd ever do a line for a more affordable store, like H&M, which is about to launch a one-off Jimmy Choo collection. "They proposed me to do the diffusion line and I declined," he told us. "Not that I don't think it's an interesting idea, but it's a lot of work really, so it's just difficult for me to do it." Would he ever do one in the future? "No." It's not like he needs to — the way women were lining up to get their pumps signed, you'd think Bergdorf was giving them away.But Louboutin also designs shoes for men. And today he wore his leopard-spotted men's high-tops. "I do like classical shoes, in reality, for men," he said. "What's funny enough is I saw a lot of people looking at the shoes thinking, well I never thought I would wear that, but it looks good. And then the same guy goes and buys them. So funny enough, it doesn't seem to me that special to have this sort of printed shoe." Hear that, men? Fuzzy leopard high-tops are totally normal.
Publication: New York Magazine
Article:Christian Louboutin Turned Down an H&M Diffusion Line
October 22, 2009
Katie Goldsmith
URL: http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2009/10/christian_louboutin_turned_dow.html
Commentary by Kesandra:
Hmmm....a more affordable line of Louboutin? How awesomely incredible would that be! Well, it'd be incredible to me...but what about Beyonce...and Madonna...and Oprah Winfrey. If Louboutin offered shoes at a more affordable price, they would slowly but surely lose the prestige that is associated with them. Although I wouldn't mind being able to slip my foot into a pair of the fabulous red-soles, I sort of like having something to aspire to. I always say "One day I'm going to make it BIG!" Well, I would know I've made it once I'm able to casually stroll into a Louboutin boutique and nonchalantly swipe my card. And for this reason...I don't mind Louboutin turning down an H&M offer...or anybody else's for that matter! :)
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Article 2: The Science of High Heels
The pale gold carpet in Bergdorf Goodman’s shoe salon was pockmarked with hundreds of small indentations one recent Thursday afternoon.
Christian Louboutin, the French shoe designer, was in town and about 200 of his faithful clients had come to pay homage — most of them in the designer’s skyscraper stilettos, which not only soar to more than $3,000 but have heels that top out at 160 millimeters, or a little more than 6 inches.
“I go to work in them. I go out at night in them,” said Angela Russo, 30, a Manhattan attorney who was wearing Louboutin black suede platform sandals. “I think they’re amazing, incredibly sexy and they’re comfortable. The construction is impeccable.”
Over the past decade, technical advances in materials and fabrication, combined with designers’ skills and desire to innovate, have pushed many dress shoe heels beyond the traditional 70 millimeter to 90 millimeter range in recent years. But as anyone who has broken a heel knows, the higher the elevation, the more likely it is to snap.
“The technical must-haves for designing a stiletto are a strong heel to sustain the weight of the wearer and a reinforced shank — the instep, which is the curved part of the sole — so the shoe won’t collapse,” said Elizabeth Semmelback, curator of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto.
Many give the credit for that stronger heel to ABS, or Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, a polymer developed by a U.S. government team working on synthetic rubber after World War II.
“The most important innovation in high heels is the ABS molded high heel,” said Nicholas Kirkwood, 29, a shoe designer who won the British Fashion Awards emerging star prize last year. “It’s what allows them to be really high and come in multifaceted shapes.”
It is the material used by many designers, including Mr. Louboutin and Manolo Blahnik, a pioneer in the contemporary shoe designer pantheon, although Mr. Blahnik draws the line at 115-millimeter heels. “115 is the highest heel to walk properly and comfortably,” the British-based designer said. “You have grace and femininity.”
Mr. Blahnik’s heels, which he likes to describe as “spindly,” have a central steel rod surrounded by ABS plastic and a polyurethane tip at the bottom. And to attach them firmly to the shoe, artisans in his factories position five nails, each one at a 7-degree angle and about 8 millimeters apart, a configuration that looks something like a martini glass.
A compressed-air gun is used to hammer the nails into place and, as a finishing touch, a screw is driven through the insole and into the heel, a sort of metaphorical olive.
The insoles most commonly used for Italian-made high heels are produced by Texon, a 60-year-old company, which makes a cellulose base from cotton fibers, for moisture absorption. Several other materials then are glued on it to form a kind of sandwich, with the area under the toes and ball of the foot designed to be soft and flexible while the arch and heel are made for strength. Part of that design is a stiff strip called the shankboard, which creates the arch, and a pair of spaghetti-thin steel rods that run from the heel to the ball of the foot, to help maintain the architecture of the shoe.
The front of the insole has an added layer of Latex foam for comfort.
Mr. Blahnik also adds a layer of felt, for extra cushioning, inside his shoes — “to make sure you avoid the ‘Princess and the Pea’ effect,” said George Malkemus, the president of Manolo Blahnik. “The cushioning is higher at the heel so you don’t feel the nail heads and gets thinner towards the front of the shoe because you need room for the toes.”
When it comes to the design, Mr. Blahnik said, “balance is the most important aspect of creating a 115-millimeter heel. To achieve it, I use a compass, a ruler, my eyes and my hands.” Some designers now use a CAD, or computer-assisted design, system in their work but Mr. Blahnik said he would rather do everything himself — “I am a traditionalist,” he said.
And the goal is achieved when the toe of the shoe and the tip of the heel strike the ground at the same time, with the weight evenly balanced over the shoe.
Mr. Louboutin also has hidden a microplastic platform under the ball of the foot, to give a bit of bounce and “to make the woman look good with a maximum of comfort for that type of height.”
“You measure from the top of the heel to the top of the platform inside the sole and that’s the height of the heel that you’re really walking on,” the designer said. So while his heels may look particularly high, “at the end of the day, it’s the same as a plain pump with a single sole.”
While fetish drawings from the late 19th century show very thin high heels, it wasn’t until the post-World War II era that the technological advances leading to today’s stiletto first became common.
“Stiletto,” a history of the shoe by Caroline Cox, a visiting professor in cultural history at the University of Arts in London, notes that Roger Vivier, working for Christian Dior, created the classic silhouette in 1952 — but his heels were wood. “With wood heels, you can’t go high without them breaking,” Professor Cox said in an interview.
By 1954, Mehmet Kurdash, a shoemaker with a small business in London’s East End, “figured that, if you put in an aluminum stem, you can go high without the heels breaking,” she said.
Mr. Vivier then devised the “talon aiguille,” or “needle heel,” which was reinforced with steel. And by 1956, designers at an Italian trade fair presented the basic composition used today: a central metal stem enclosed in a plastic shell.
Today, “It’s about balance, shapes and proportions,” said Mr. Kirkwood. “It has to fit the foot and different feet. It’s not just an objet d’art.”
Christian Louboutin, the French shoe designer, was in town and about 200 of his faithful clients had come to pay homage — most of them in the designer’s skyscraper stilettos, which not only soar to more than $3,000 but have heels that top out at 160 millimeters, or a little more than 6 inches.
“I go to work in them. I go out at night in them,” said Angela Russo, 30, a Manhattan attorney who was wearing Louboutin black suede platform sandals. “I think they’re amazing, incredibly sexy and they’re comfortable. The construction is impeccable.”
Over the past decade, technical advances in materials and fabrication, combined with designers’ skills and desire to innovate, have pushed many dress shoe heels beyond the traditional 70 millimeter to 90 millimeter range in recent years. But as anyone who has broken a heel knows, the higher the elevation, the more likely it is to snap.
“The technical must-haves for designing a stiletto are a strong heel to sustain the weight of the wearer and a reinforced shank — the instep, which is the curved part of the sole — so the shoe won’t collapse,” said Elizabeth Semmelback, curator of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto.
Many give the credit for that stronger heel to ABS, or Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, a polymer developed by a U.S. government team working on synthetic rubber after World War II.
“The most important innovation in high heels is the ABS molded high heel,” said Nicholas Kirkwood, 29, a shoe designer who won the British Fashion Awards emerging star prize last year. “It’s what allows them to be really high and come in multifaceted shapes.”
It is the material used by many designers, including Mr. Louboutin and Manolo Blahnik, a pioneer in the contemporary shoe designer pantheon, although Mr. Blahnik draws the line at 115-millimeter heels. “115 is the highest heel to walk properly and comfortably,” the British-based designer said. “You have grace and femininity.”
Mr. Blahnik’s heels, which he likes to describe as “spindly,” have a central steel rod surrounded by ABS plastic and a polyurethane tip at the bottom. And to attach them firmly to the shoe, artisans in his factories position five nails, each one at a 7-degree angle and about 8 millimeters apart, a configuration that looks something like a martini glass.
A compressed-air gun is used to hammer the nails into place and, as a finishing touch, a screw is driven through the insole and into the heel, a sort of metaphorical olive.
The insoles most commonly used for Italian-made high heels are produced by Texon, a 60-year-old company, which makes a cellulose base from cotton fibers, for moisture absorption. Several other materials then are glued on it to form a kind of sandwich, with the area under the toes and ball of the foot designed to be soft and flexible while the arch and heel are made for strength. Part of that design is a stiff strip called the shankboard, which creates the arch, and a pair of spaghetti-thin steel rods that run from the heel to the ball of the foot, to help maintain the architecture of the shoe.
The front of the insole has an added layer of Latex foam for comfort.
Mr. Blahnik also adds a layer of felt, for extra cushioning, inside his shoes — “to make sure you avoid the ‘Princess and the Pea’ effect,” said George Malkemus, the president of Manolo Blahnik. “The cushioning is higher at the heel so you don’t feel the nail heads and gets thinner towards the front of the shoe because you need room for the toes.”
When it comes to the design, Mr. Blahnik said, “balance is the most important aspect of creating a 115-millimeter heel. To achieve it, I use a compass, a ruler, my eyes and my hands.” Some designers now use a CAD, or computer-assisted design, system in their work but Mr. Blahnik said he would rather do everything himself — “I am a traditionalist,” he said.
And the goal is achieved when the toe of the shoe and the tip of the heel strike the ground at the same time, with the weight evenly balanced over the shoe.
Mr. Louboutin also has hidden a microplastic platform under the ball of the foot, to give a bit of bounce and “to make the woman look good with a maximum of comfort for that type of height.”
“You measure from the top of the heel to the top of the platform inside the sole and that’s the height of the heel that you’re really walking on,” the designer said. So while his heels may look particularly high, “at the end of the day, it’s the same as a plain pump with a single sole.”
While fetish drawings from the late 19th century show very thin high heels, it wasn’t until the post-World War II era that the technological advances leading to today’s stiletto first became common.
“Stiletto,” a history of the shoe by Caroline Cox, a visiting professor in cultural history at the University of Arts in London, notes that Roger Vivier, working for Christian Dior, created the classic silhouette in 1952 — but his heels were wood. “With wood heels, you can’t go high without them breaking,” Professor Cox said in an interview.
By 1954, Mehmet Kurdash, a shoemaker with a small business in London’s East End, “figured that, if you put in an aluminum stem, you can go high without the heels breaking,” she said.
Mr. Vivier then devised the “talon aiguille,” or “needle heel,” which was reinforced with steel. And by 1956, designers at an Italian trade fair presented the basic composition used today: a central metal stem enclosed in a plastic shell.
Today, “It’s about balance, shapes and proportions,” said Mr. Kirkwood. “It has to fit the foot and different feet. It’s not just an objet d’art.”
Publication: The New York Times
Article: The Highest Heels Rely on Technology to Reach the Sky
November 17, 2009
ELIZABETH HAYT
Commentary by Kesandra:
I've always known that it took a lot to wear extremely high heels, but this is the first time I've actually realized how much it actually takes to make them!
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