Follow Vogue Arabia

Extracts From an Intimate Conversation: Christian Louboutin and Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz

Photo courtesy of Christian Louboutin.

Photo courtesy of Christian Louboutin.

Following attending the DDFC/Vogue Arabia Fashion Prize Gala in Dubai, Christian Louboutin—a man synonymous with red soles, and now a burgeoning beauty name—met with Editor-in-Chief Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz to personally introduce her to his new line of fragrances. Read on for extracts from their intimate conversation.

FRAGRANCE TESTS WITH A WOMAN WHOSE NOSE, KNOWS

ASSISTANT: Let’s start with “Bikini Questa Sera.”  This fragrance is inspired by an Egyptian sunset; and the notion of taking the heat out of the day. 

DEENA ALJUHANI ABDULAZIZ: (smells) Jasmine, you have jasmine in it—but not any jasmine.

Wow, that’s right. The first two notes are jasmine and tuberose.

But it’s not any jasmine. There is “ful.” Do you know what I’m talking about? At night, when my family is walking on the terrace, they break some stems off and bring them to you—it’s a ritual. 

Next, you have “Tornade Blonde.” It means,  “a blond tornado.” But blond as in an energy and a light—not the color. 

(smells) This has musk in it. 

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN: Musk and rose.

The musk is why I’m falling in love with it right now. 

You know why? Because rose is a beautiful ingredient, but it had to be “animal.”

Rose alone—I’m not interested. Did you know that the most expensive rose essence in the world is from Taif in Saudi Arabia? More expensive than the Turkish rose. But I will always love musk; it’s skin. 

Absolutely, it’s animal.

Yes.

And then you have “Trouble in Heaven.”

I love these names! Who came up with them? 

She’s provocative and very at ease with her provocation. 

OK this is me. (smells) This is amber. It’s good. This is too much trouble.

You are trouble!

This is what I’m going to do: I’m going to mix Tornado Blonde with Trouble in Heaven. Oh, that’s perfect. I actually love these together. 

Saudi women in particular like mixing. It’s very rare that you will find a Saudi woman who wears just one perfume. We just don’t do it. 

That’s interesting, I didn’t know that.

We like it customized.

Christian Louboutin fragrances. Courtesy of Christian Louboutin

Christian Louboutin fragrances. Courtesy of Christian Louboutin

ON CREATING AN OBJET D’ART 

I always wanted to work with an architect when I was doing the bottle, and so, at the beginning, I wanted to ask Oscar Niemeyer. I did, and he was over 90-years-old—and he said, “Listen, for the next two years, I’m completely booked. But I’ve never done that and I would be quite excited to do it. So give me two years, or one and a half, if you can.” I said, “OK.” I was thinking that it could be a bit late for me, but let’s see. Bottom line, he died.

Right.

I kept the idea of wanting to work with an architect. There is a great, young architect called Thomas Heatherwick. He did the English Pavilion in Shanghai for the Exposition Universelle (2010). I asked him if he would something for me. He said, “I have never done that, but let’s try.” So we started to work together. I gave him complete freedom. I just asked that he make a beautiful object—something that women would want to hold and embrace—almost like a trophy.

I had in mind Marilyn holding the perfume; Marilyn putting her finger in front of the mirror closing her eyes and she puts some perfume on. But that’s why I never work with documents, because then it’s like a copy. When you go through the filter of a memory, you keep the emotion.

That’s very emotional, I love that. 

I want this bottle to be feminine but also embrace the masculine. It needs to be powerful.

ON INTIMACY

Why start with three perfumes, why not one? 

You cannot have—you cannot decide for women, “OK this is the fragrance,” because a fragrance is going to be different on every skin.

Yes.

And also if you live here in Dubai, it’s hot.

And humid. 

The smell is going to be completely different. Because of the way it’s going to melt on your skin. Your skin even exudes the heat. I thought, “How is anyone going to have a signature because of the lack of intimacy and the lack of choice?” Because your intimacy is your choice.

Yes.

So one fragrance is a thing that I couldn’t do. I’ve never been someone with a uniform. I was born and raised in Paris—and what is a Parisian? It’s a sense of little things, but it’s a freedom thing first of all. In Paris, for the longest time, freedom has always been our identity—our culture. We always had everything in Paris—from jewelry, to clothes, to scents. So, the real Parisian was never faithful to a one brand. She may smell something there, but she’s going to be dressed by another brand. She’s not going to have a uniform—never.

That’s what makes her who she is. 

Exactly. So, the same thing for fragrance; I was feeling, you cannot not give a choice. You have to accept that people are not going to be faithful. Even if they like you—when it comes down to something that is so much about identity and intimacy—you have to give a choice. Even a woman is not the same woman everywhere.

What I love about fragrance the most is that fragrance and music are the only two things—that for some reason—the minute you spray it, or the minute you smell it, or the minute you hear it, it brings you back exactly to a moment. 

Oui, absolutely.

And that’s such a power that nothing else has. I don’t know why that is; it’s not the same when you’re wearing something. I don’t know why, but it transfers you. It travels, it takes you exactly to that moment. 

You’re also hyper sensitive from the inside.

Absolutely, [and with] fragrances in particular. For instance, every time I smell Eau Sauvage, it immediately brings me back to being five-years-old and my father hugging me. 

Of course.

And it will never change. A song does that too. If I hear a particular song, it will bring me back to a certain mood. 

Christian Louboutin. Photo by Gyome Dos Santos. Courtesy of Christian Louboutin

Christian Louboutin. Photo by Gyome Dos Santos. Courtesy of Christian Louboutin

ON SECURITY AND PROTECTION

I watched a movie one day, at the cinema in Paris. It was a very sad movie—that type of French movie. OK, actually it wasn’t French, it was Belgian. Anyway, it was a super sad story and we were in the cinema in the middle of the afternoon; and suddenly, during this really sad movie, my friend took her perfume out of her bag and she started to spray. People were like, “Oh God, what is that?” And she kept on spraying herself. I asked her, “What are you doing?” And she said, “I just couldn’t, I needed to be in my bubble.” People around us were really shocked.

And this is in the middle of the cinema? Interesting. 

She said, “Listen, I couldn’t go all the way through that movie without having a good smell.” She was resisting the negativity.

Security. Fragrance can be a sort of security. 

Security and protection. It was not a sophisticated, thoughtful thing [to do]—but she needed that to survive that film. A perfume can be so powerful, that just by spraying yourself, you are protecting yourself.

RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS WITH CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN 

Stilettos or red lipstick, which one is more empowering?

Well it depends on the people. Some people should stick to red lipstick and some people are fully empowered with high heels.

How about both? 

Both are perfect. Both is the maximum and the maximum is not enough, so…

You always said that to me. You always said, “More is more.”

More is more.

In your eyes, describe the characteristics of the Arab Louboutin woman. 

There’s not a full description between the Arab Louboutin woman without linking it to Louboutin women in general—I wouldn’t make such a difference. But, if I have to say something about the Louboutin Arab woman, then she’s definitely a woman who embraces her femininity and wouldn’t—for anything in the world—exchange it to be a man.

But guess what, that’s the essence of an Arab woman, so basically you captured it. So maybe you were designing for Arab women all along. 

I don’t think that there was a moment in the Arab culture where a woman had, or felt that she had to be a man.

No, it’s not part of our ideology. 

If you had music playing, what would it be? 

Chaka Khan. I’m Every Woman.

I love that song! “I’m every woman, I’m every woman!”  

Suggestions
Articles
View All
Vogue Collection
Topics