French shoe designer Christian Louboutin poses for photographers as he opens his first-ever retrospective exhibition at the Design Museum in London April 30, 2012. AP Photo\/Jonathan Short<\/p>\n
From the catwalk to the sidewalk, the name Christian Louboutin has come to define glamorous footwear to women around the world. The iconic designer showed CBS News' Charlie D'Agata the passion and vision behind his shoe empire. <\/p>\n
Louboutin has been getting into women's heads and their shoes for the past two decades. <\/p>\n
His towering heels have embedded themselves in popular culture - from hip-hop divas in racy videos to strong female characters in TV series, such as \"Sex and the City.\" <\/p>\n
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Christian Louboutin, famous for designing heels with red soles, shares why he thinks there is a sense of \"liberation\" going on in the domain of s... <\/p>\n
\"I am sometimes exactly to the same place to the woman in front of the mirror, looking at herself, looking at her a--, and thinking: 'OK, this looks good, let's go for the shoes,'\" said Louboutin. <\/p>\n
But it all began very small. He opened his first boutique in Paris in 1991. Back then, he dreamed that just maybe, one day, he'd open another shop in New York. <\/p>\n
Now, his empire of 93 shops sells almost a million pairs of shoes a year worldwide to women and men. <\/p>\n
Growing up in the French capital, he became intoxicated by the glamour of the Moulin Rouge. And at just 16 years old, he went to work for the famed cabaret Folies Bergre, where he began by sewing sequins onto costumes before honing his skills as a cobbler under legendary French shoe designer Charles Jourdan. <\/p>\n
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Christian Louboutin: The inspiration behind the red sole<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" French shoe designer Christian Louboutin poses for photographers as he opens his first-ever retrospective exhibition at the Design Museum in London April 30, 2012. Continue reading