Christina Louboutin’s love for India has been well documented. Delving into the archives of haute couture designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Louboutin’s latest project sees an exclusive collection of 15 designs for women and four for men. Filled with intricate embroidery and a kaleidoscope of colors, the pieces reflect everything we love about Louboutin with a quintessential Indian flare. During his recent visit to the region to celebrate the collection, we spoke to Louboutin about meeting Mukherjee and his inspirations behind the designs.
You’ve been visiting India from a very young age. What initially drew you to visit the country?
“As a teenager, I watched a lot of Egyptian and Indian movies so for me India was a country of movies. When I went there for the first time I wanted to visit Bollywood studios and at 17 that’s what I did. Cinema is what really inspired me to visit India.”
When did you first meet Sabyasachi?
“I met him four years ago. I knew his work quite well, but I didn’t know him personally. The first time I accidentally met him in his store, when I was on my way to my store in Mumbai. I wasn’t expecting to see him there because he lives in Kolkata. He came to me and introduced himself, and then we started to speak about different things. Nothing about fashion, his clothes or my shoes, we actually started to talk about his city, food, and cinema. We stayed in contact. After a while, he contacted me and asked if I would do shoes for his show and I said absolutely, and that’s when we collaborated.”
When did the idea to collaborate come up?
“This collaboration is different. For designing shoes for his runway, I am looking at the bits and pieces of his archives, his work, taking things from his work and putting it my way. The shoes are definitely inspired from his aesthetics; it’s a take on the excellence of his work, embroidery, and craftsmanship.”
What was it like first walking into his archives and seeing such beautiful pieces?
“Sabyasachi has over a 1,000 embroiders. In one office you see people sketching, in another you see 15 people doing embroidery for a bridal ceremony. I spent days in his archives looking at the fabrics, textiles and just experiencing. It’s a bit of childhood dream come true for someone who loves India and fabric. It’s a perfect place.”
What do you think defines Indian craftsmanship?
“In the essence and DNA of India, there is exuberance. They have an amazing understanding of colors and a real love for it. Colors are nothing by themselves if you don’t associate them with fabric. Velvet is going to look absolutely striking with pale, gold colors. Craftsmanship in India has no limits. They are not afraid of colors. The only color that they are afraid of is white, as that is the sign of death; you wrap dead people in white. Black is not their favorite color either. I like white, but I don’t like black so much. It’s all about the colors. India has no fears of mixing colors, even the brightest of colors or toned down colors. It is the opposite of a minimalist country. It’s a maximalist country.”
Do you have a favorite piece in the collection?
“I do have a piece in the collection that I favor the most. It’s a high heel boot with an open toe, gold bangles in front of the boot, and on the sides it has different fabric. I love this because I designed it keeping an actress in mind that I love – Deepika Padukone. She’s a beautiful Bollywood actress and a great performer and a great dancer, so I thought of her. And she liked it, which gave me a lot of pleasure.”
Do you enjoy working with other designers?
“Designers do not often inspire me; I am inspired by many other different things. But I do enjoy collaborating because it is a different perspective for me. My sketches are always bare legs with shoes, I never add clothes. It definitely gives you a sense of modesty of serving someone. So with that, it’s a nice experience. You need to listen to what a person actually wants from you. I am trying to put the essence of my work through the service of somebody else. I am thinking if it’s all about colors or materials, or design of the clothes, so I learn from that. Definitely interesting, it’s a moment when I am speaking to someone and they are talking to me and I am quite talkative. The exchange at that time is very important. That’s why I can’t work with someone whom I do not like or respect.”
After spending so much time traveling around the world, how has your inspiration changed or developed?
“It has not changed but has definitely developed.”
When you go to India, do you find that things have changed and discover new things to inspire you?
“Yes. Sometimes you go to a place and find something from other countries. In India, you might find Korean masks. So traveling from one country, you might get back something from a different country. There’s nothing better than mixing things. Traveling has an element of surprise; when you travel you meet different people. So there is always a change. When I travel to India, there definitely is a change from when I first visited. I have been traveling to India for 38 years now. I am very surprised at times; this generation is different, so many things are different. But the heritage is the same and very strong. And people are very nice.”
The Christian Louboutin x Sabyasachi capsule collection is available exclusively in the Middle East at Level Shoes Dubai