Christian Louboutin made a splash at Paris Fashion Week recently (Sept 27) when he staged “Paris is Louboutining”, a synchronised swimming spectacle at the Piscine Molitor.
The art deco pool, designed by Lucien Pollet in 1929, was transformed into a watery burlesque that would sink Esther Williams with envy.
Louboutin enlisted photographer and music video director David LaChapelle for art direction, Blanca Li for choreography, a troupe of 14 dancers and 15 members from the French Olympic artistic swimming team for an underwater performance done entirely in his new Miss Z stilettos. Musician LP sang on the pool deck.
Even before the Paris Olympics, Louboutin had been taken with the idea of using athletes to present his collection.
He envisioned something surprising, saying before the show that it is “where you would not expect athletes and you would not expect shoes”.
“I thought, basically, swimming,” he added.
Read more: Meet the fashion designer who's on a winning trajectory after Olympic showing
Known for his slick red-leather-soled shoes, Louboutin also has a love of dance, camp and glamour.
His first job was at the Folies Bergere, and he got his start designing shoes for showgirls. He has collaborated with Crazy Horse, Paris’ tastefully nude cabaret, and staged his Loubi shows, the dance and music presentations he orchestrates to showcase new collections, with various choreographers and performers.
“It’s a little bit like a movie,” said Louboutin, who envisioned a 1950s Hollywood water ballet, full of colour, light and twisted drama.
He was connected to LaChapelle through their mutual friend, heiress and fashion maven Daphne Guinness.
LaChapelle’s imagery often depicts stars – Pamela Anderson, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus – in hyperreal scenarios that are satirical and kitschy. For example, he portrayed Katy Perry as a mermaid presiding over a tide of garbage.
LaChapelle built “Paris is Louboutining” around a fire.
A screaming woman in a robe was rescued from a burning building by two firefighters, who bravely headed back into the flames to find her “baby,” tossing a swaddling bundle out the window into the arms of its mother. She unwrapped it to reveal a pair of Louboutins.
Then one firefighter stripped down to briefs. The woman disrobed. They dove into the pool and a began a sexy pas de deux as LP emerged on deck, singing Lost On You next to a towering pair of Christian Louboutin stiletto mules.
The jumbo shoes weren’t just props; they were a functioning slide.
Down the mules and into the pool went the rest of the French Olympic team, embarking on a 15-minute performance that showcased feats of athleticism and the Miss Z pointy, metallic silhouettes.
Poolside dancers performed in the windows of the building facade that recalled the 1960 photograph “Models in Window” that inspired Jean-Paul Goude’s 1990 Chanel Egoïste campaign. The other firefighter performed on a stripper pole.
Read more: Elegance, urban grit and drama hit star-studded Paris Fashion Week runways
Li’s choreography was all about the leg. She worked with the swimmers, clad in turquoise and purple bathing suits, to adapt the movements to work with the shoes.
“I told them from the beginning, ‘This is not about competition,’” Li said. “‘We’re going to make something beautiful.’”
Claudia Janvier, a member of the Olympic team, said the swimmers had not really performed in high heels before.
“We are swimming really close to each other,” she said. “I have a bunch of bruises that I had to cover up from getting stabbed with a stiletto.”
The high of the performance seemed to absolve any pain. After the finale of boosts, flamingos, eggbeaters, cranes and dives, the entire cast and crew – Louboutin, Li, LaChapelle and LP – dove, jumped or took the slide into the pool. No one was in a hurry to get out. – The New York Times
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