This past week was VOGUE: CHANGE MAKERS event in Athens. I had the chance to listen to amazing change makers from the Fashion Industry and one of the legends was Christian Louboutin.

Christian Louboutin at Vogue: Change Makers talking about Creativity, Personal Story and Happiness

As someone who have been working with brands for 20+ years and studying the psychology of ‘Happiness’ for the past many years. I was so inspired and encouraged to listen to his Brand Story directly from him and how he associated his brand with ‘Happiness’.

In his own words he said:

“For me, the idea of fashion is to provide happiness….Happiness is my conductor, it is extremely important and I take it very seriously”

— Christian Louboutin

In the past, although I knew deep down the importance of it, I had sometimes doubted myself about studying and giving so much importance to the notion of being ‘Happy’ and spending so much time thinking and reading about it. It was sometimes seen as acting like ‘Pollyanna’ and even something as silly to pursue when there was so many ‘serious’ topics to pursue in life. Yet, isn’t happiness the most important and most serious topic to fully understand and pursue. It was so refreshing to hear once again from an icon how important it is and that it needs to be taken seriously. I will elaborate more on ‘Happiness’ and how it affects success on my future writings, and I also discuss it on my ‘Wellness 101’ workshop.

About Christian Louboutin’s Red Soles – simply fascinating story of creation and growth. His designs simply brighten up the streets and lives of women and men with a gesture of brightness and also fun. Did you know that the idea of red soles came to him one day when he saw his assistant painting her nails with red nail polish in the office. He simply took the red nail polish from her and painted the soles of the shoes and decided from that day onwards it was going to be his signature – with it he wanted to “create something that broke rules and made women confident and empowered”. Love how small actions we do or see everyday can spark an idea and lead to the most creative ideas and solutions. Inspirations are everywhere.

This is the Story of Christian Louboutin:

Born and raised in Paris in 1964 with his parents and three older sisters. As a child he spent time soaking up local culture and visited nearby Palais de la Porte Doree museum, where he saw ‘no stiletto heels’ allowed sign on its doors, this little sign made a big impression on him. He then got his first job at Folies Bergeres, the cabaret where he assisted entertainers backstage and got exposed to shiny shoes and costumes as well as party scenes where Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol were regulars. He then traveled for education and spent a year in Roman, the shoe capital of France in 1982, learned everything about cut, leather and molding, later having Roger Vivier as a mentor since his youth, he found the chance to work with the great shoe maker. Following this, he spent time absorbing colours and nature working as a landscape designer but then decided go back to shoe making and be his own boss opening his own parisian small boutique in 1991. In the beginning, he was not happy with the prototypes and wanted his shoes to be more ‘alive’, and this is when one day watching his assistant paint her nails he came up with the idea and the world famous red sole was born. From then on, His imagination and work expanded world wide with celebrities and TV stars all around the world making it one of the most prestigious Women’s shoes brand.