The craze of made-to-measure is catching up and Christian Louboutin is the latest designer to unveil the exclusive service. Loubi fans can now design the world’s most exclusive shoes with red soles with the launch of the French label’s Made to Measure facility.
“If you can dream it, we can make it” claims Christian Louboutin as his team of elite artisans will bring client’s footwear wishes to life at their Paris Atelier.
The Made to Measure process is unique and utterly luxurious as one-of-a-kind shoes and boots are meticulously created from personal measurements, and crafted with care by a number of expert hands. Rolling out infinite possibilities, “It is an opportunity for the people who love my shoes to step into our world and create something truly one-of-a-kind” asserts Monsieur Louboutin.
The whole process undergoes eight steps before the client can step in to their own red sole design with pride. After all, not all get to design a Loubi? It starts with a private client heading to the Atelier, located in Paris’s 1st Arrondissement for designing the perfectly sculpted pair of shoes. This is followed by the Atelier director measuring the feet at more than a dozen key points. For precise sizing details, client is also expected to step into foam moulds to get three-dimensional imprints of the feet.
After picking the preferred silhouette, including heel height and toe shape, as well as the desired material and embellishment, the artisans begin the meticulous work of Last Adjustment, or the sculpting of three-dimensional casts of the foot. Once the mold is ready, artisans create the first draft of the shoe by hand in leather which is then passed along to another specialist for sewing and assembly.
And when the first shoe is complete, it’s time for a private fitting in the Atelier. Once satisfied with the fit, the shoe is completed and decked with special embellishments chosen exclusively by the client.
Lastly, the shoe can step out of the Atelier only with the approval of Christian Louboutin himself and of course the signature red-lacquered soles. The whole process, right from start to end, takes almost a year. While the price for putting the best foot forward in the most unique pair of shoes in the world starts from $3,400 (€3,000) for shoes and about $4,000 (€3,500) for boots.
Christian Louboutin makes it possible to fulfill a client’s dream for a perfect shoe!
