1991
A Paris boutique
Louboutin opened his first boutique in the Galerie Véro-Dodat. His work drew on a longstanding fascination with shoes, performance and the decorative arts.
The House & Its Designers
Christian Louboutin
Paris · 1991
The exuberance of a shoe designer, carried into leather goods.
Christian Louboutin’s red soles made a small detail instantly recognisable. His bags use a related vocabulary of vivid colour, studs, glossy surfaces and ornamental hardware.
3 photographs · Reviewed August 2026
Explore the history ↓
01 / The house
The story behind the name.
The red sole
A signature emerges
A coat of red nail polish on a prototype supplied the idea for the house’s defining sole. The colour became an identifying mark across collections.
The accessories
From sole to lining
Bags extend that visual language through red linings, contrasting textures and sculptural clasps. Designs range from the Cabata tote to compact evening bags.
02 / The designers
The people who shaped the house.
Selected creative chapters; dates distinguish appointments from runway debuts.
Founder
Christian Louboutin
Approaches accessories through colour, ornament and the theatrical possibilities of an object.
03 / The bags
A vocabulary in leather and form.
A selection of the house’s designs. Resale photographs illustrate individual examples; size, finish and condition vary.
01
Sweet Charity
A compact chain-strap flap bag with a decorative bow clasp.
More designs to know
- Cabarock
- A leather tote with studded handles and the house’s red accents.
- Rubylou
- A chain-strap bag that carries Louboutin’s red signature into leather goods.
- Paloma
- A structured top-handle bag with contrasting side panels.
- Boulevard
- A streamlined shoulder-bag design from the house’s leather-goods collection.