Shoe Designer Christian Louboutin Is Now A Billionaire

Forbes

After four decades of keeping his well-heeled clients in his iconic red-soled heels, shoe designer Christian Louboutin is now a billionaire. The 61-year-old designer is stepping into the billionaire ranks thanks to his eponymous fashion brand. While still best-known for its towering stilettos and perilous platforms, the Louboutin brand has expanded into sneakers, bags, and beauty products, as well as lines for men and children.  The company was valued at $3.2 billion last year by Exor, the investment company of Italy’s Agnelli family, which bought a 24% stake in 2021 for about $650 million. Louboutin still owns 35%—which Forbes values at $1.1 billion. That stake makes up most of an estimated $1.2 billion fortune that includes other investments such as the Vermelho Hotel, a luxury resort he opened in southern Portugal last year. Representatives for Louboutin didn’t respond to requests for a comment on the valuation.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2024/04/01/christian-louboutin-net-worth-billionaire-shoe-designer/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 In the world of fashion, a beacon of light shines from the soles of stilettos and boots

00:05 adorned with red bottoms.

00:07 Those pretty shoes, which start at about $800 a pair and can quickly reach into the mid-thousands,

00:13 have found their way to the feet of the world's most beautiful people.

00:16 And the designer of those shoes is none other than Christian Louboutin.

00:21 Last year, both Beyoncé and Taylor Swift wore Louboutins during their respective concert

00:26 tours.

00:27 He designed a different shoe for each Swift era — loafers for red, knee-high boots encrusted

00:32 in rhinestones for midnights.

00:34 And Margot Robbie wore a pair of his metallic mules to the London premiere of Barbie.

00:39 Despite the sea of pink, the soles of her shoes remain Louboutin red, which has its

00:44 own Pantone code — 18-1663TP.

00:49 The shoes have also become pop culture touchstones.

00:53 On Sex and the City, Sarah Jessica Parker's heel-addicted Carrie Bradshaw famously wore

00:59 mismatched Loubys and started a trend.

01:02 And Cardi B immortalized his heels in her 2017 breakout hit "Bodak Yellow."

01:08 In 2016, Louboutin told Forbes, "I was born into a very feminine environment with my sisters,

01:14 who helped me to understand women and definitely led me to what I'm doing."

01:21 Born and raised in Paris, Louboutin came from a working-class background.

01:26 His father was a cabinetmaker from Brittany, while his mother stayed home, raising him

01:31 and three older sisters.

01:33 When he was 10, Louboutin visited Paris' Museum of African and Oceanic Art and saw a

01:38 sign that forbade women from wearing stilettos.

01:42 That didn't sit right with the young Louboutin, kickstarting a lifelong obsession with shoes.

01:47 At 16, he was expelled from school and traveled to India before returning to Paris to intern

01:53 at the Folies Bergère, where he began designing shoes for the dancers.

01:57 Then came a stint with French shoe designer Charles Jourdan, followed by freelance work

02:03 for Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent.

02:06 In 1988, he was hired by Roger Vivier, best known for inventing the stiletto in the 1950s.

02:13 The famed French cobbler then took a brief hiatus from footwear, designing terraces in

02:18 New York and gardens in France, before opening his first shop in Paris in 1991 with the help

02:26 of two friends, Henri Seydoux and Bruno Chambalon.

02:30 One of his first celebrity customers was Princess Caroline of Monaco.

02:34 Since then, Louboutin's red soles have become a fixture on the red carpet.

02:40 Those famous soles came to him in 1992, when he was disappointed by a shoe prototype in

02:45 his atelier and saw that his assistant was polishing her nails red.

02:50 He says that he then grabbed the polish and painted the soles red.

02:54 From his first boutique in the Galerie Véro D'Hoda, a 19th century neoclassical shopping

02:59 arcade, a short walk away from the Louvre in Paris, the brand continued to grow, opening

03:04 boutiques in New York in 1994 and London in 1997.

03:10 Over the next decade, Louboutin's heels would be spotted everywhere, and he trademarked

03:14 that red sole in France in 2000.

03:17 Three years later, he started selling bags, followed by men's shoes in 2009.

03:24 Today, Louboutin has more than 160 boutiques in 32 countries across four continents, including

03:32 35 in the United States, 23 in Japan, and 20 in China.

03:38 And after four decades of keeping his well-heeled clients in his iconic red-soled heels, shoe

03:44 designer Christian Louboutin is now a billionaire.

03:47 The 61-year-old designer is stepping into the billionaire ranks thanks to his eponymous

03:52 fashion brand.

03:54 While still best known for its towering stilettos and perilous platforms, the Louboutin brand

03:59 has expanded into sneakers, bags, and beauty products, as well as lines for men and children.

04:05 The company was valued at $3.2 billion last year by Exor, the investment company of Italy's

04:12 Agnelli family, which bought a 24% stake in 2021 for about $650 million.

04:19 Louboutin still owns 35%, which forms values at $1.1 billion.

04:25 That stake makes up most of an estimated $1.2 billion fortune that includes other investments,

04:32 such as the Vermelho Hotel, a luxury resort he opened in southern Portugal last year.

04:38 Representatives for Louboutin didn't respond to requests for a comment on the valuation.

04:42 Over the years, his company has aggressively protected its red sole in numerous lawsuits

04:47 around the world.

04:49 That led to clashes with industry titans in lawsuits against Zara, which it lost, and

04:54 with Yves Saint Laurent, which it partly won.

04:57 Last year, Louboutin won trademark cases in Brazil and India and filed a lawsuit alongside

05:03 tech giant Meta against a Mexican counterfeiter selling fake Louboutins on Facebook and Instagram.

05:09 Louboutin himself remains essential to the brand's success.

05:13 He designs the autumn and winter collections at his French chateau, or in Portugal, and

05:18 works on the spring and summer collections in Egypt or Brazil.

05:22 The sketches are then manufactured into shoes at factories in Italy and Spain.

05:27 The company produces more than one million pairs of shoes a year.

05:31 And as with many luxury fashion brands, the high prices are key to its staying power.

05:37 After posting record profits during the pandemic, the luxury goods industry saw slower growth

05:43 in 2023.

05:45 Shoes were the slowest growing luxury category last year, expanding by only 2-3%, according

05:51 to Bain & Company.

05:52 That's impacted Louboutin, too.

05:54 The firm recorded net profits of $37 million in the first half of 2023, down 51% from the

06:01 same period in 2022, amid raw material shortages and slow growth in China.

06:07 Still, the company added 10 boutiques and remained profitable.

06:11 And Louboutin isn't ready to put his feet up just yet.

06:15 In February, his brand announced a new line of sunglasses with Italian eyewear maker Markudin.

06:21 And in late March, he designed a glittery, disco-themed Val de la Rose charity gala for

06:26 his old friend Princess Caroline in Monaco, replete with 59 mirror balls, a performance

06:32 by Gloria Gaynor, and heels.

06:35 Lots and lots of heels.

06:36 [music]

06:38 [music fades]

06:40 [silence]

06:42 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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