Famous Last Words: Christian Louboutin On Life Lessons, Luxe Indulgences, and His Lasting Legacy

Harper’s Bazaar Arabia speaks to the French Founder & Artistic Director of Christian Louboutin on his heroes and most treasured possessions

Louboutin’s distinctive red-laquered soles have become so iconic that a brief flash offers instant recognition. The celebrity favourite is a global nomad, at the helm of an empire that now encompasses bags and beauty in addition to his famous shoes. He shared his life philosophy with Bazaar Arabia during a recent trip to Dubai.

Harper’s Bazaar Arabia (HBA): Is it more important to be liked or respected?

Christian Louboutin (CL): Respected, first of all. After that, you can be liked. It’s nicer to feel liked than respected. Respect sometimes involves a little bit of fear. But it’s way, way, way, more important.

HBA: Do you have a book that changed your life?

CL: I have a few which haven’t changed my life, but have been very important to my emotions. I just read one which is going to be translated into Arabic, called: What I Know About You. It’s by Quebec-based Syrian- Lebanese writer Éric Chacour. I was really transported. I read it three times in a row.

HBA: Who are your heroes?

CL: My parents in many ways, and my unknown parents too. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here. I also have a passion for Egyptian history so I have few heroes from the Egyptian pharaonic period. Also, Queen Zenobia of Palmyra from the Middle East. I’m dying to find something really structured about her life.

HBA: What is the most overrated virtue?

CL: Maybe honesty? You don’t need to say everything, any time, all the time. So straightforwardness is an overrated virtue.

HBA: What’s your greatest extravagance?

CL: Real estate. Whenever I travel and I like the place, I always end up in a real estate agency. This Indian friend of mine says we have the same disease, and it’s called la maladie de la pierre – the stone disease. I love to collect houses, which is a really bad habit, I confess.

HBA: What is your most treasured possession?

CL: Well, it has to be my daughters.

HBA: What are you proudest of?

CL: Remaining free. And having friends that I’ve had since my childhood. I’ve had a long life now and in this long journey, I have a lot of people who are still here with me.

HBA: What do you most value in your friends?

CL: Trust. I have various, crazy friends. I have friends with tons of terrible defects, but I can trust them all. Not only do I value it, it’s a necessity. I cannot be friends with someone I don’t trust. And it’s a thing that you have in common. If you trust people, they can trust you. It’s probably the most important quality.

HBA: What traits do you most admire in others?

CL: When people are emotional, but they don’t show it. I think it’s a great quality to be able to be a sensitive person, a sensible person, without splashing it in other people’s face.

HBA: What experience taught you most about life?

CL: My father, who was a carpenter, showed me a piece of wood, and told me that if you want to make beautiful sculptures out of wood, you have to go in the direction of the grain. If you go against it, you’ll never create something beautiful and you’ll end up having splinters. I took it as a metaphor. You have to go with the current; you can’t swim against it or you’ll end up drowning. Go in the direction of life and understand that it’s not necessarily a straight line. It has curves. It has moments when it’s turning. Don’t fight against it.

HBA: What would you ban if you had the chance?

CL: Misery in the world, and everything which is happening right now.

HBA: What inspires you most about your job?

CL: It’s a job which is dedicated to other people. And you do things that you like, but it’s not necessarily for you. So to give pleasure to other people is a great accomplishment for me. I like to be at the service of other people.

HBA: Do you have a motto?

CL: Why not?

Images supplied

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s November 2024 issue