French luxury designer Christian Louboutin announced the launch of an exclusive collection of shoes and small leather goods created of handcrafted sari fabrics from the archives of Indian designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee.
“Indian handicraft is the best of the best in the world. The luxuriance of Indian workmanship is at the maximum. I would love the world outside of India to love it as I do,” Louboutin said in a statement.
The two met in Sabyasachi’s Mumbai boutique and that led to an immediate connection followed by sharing an adoration of India’s culture, exquisite craftsmanship and love of food.
“India has been at the heart of luxury since the age of the Maharajas. Working with Christian revisits that couture tradition, connecting our handicrafts with his eclectic point of view to create bespoke delights for cultural magpies,” said Sabyasachi.
PHOTO: VOGUE
Women’s shoe styles include an exquisite thigh-high boot crafted with delicate leather strips designed to harness and highlight the leg. Aptly named ‘Tall and Deep,’ very few pairs will be available worldwide as an exclusive, made-to-measure item.
For men, Louboutin chose to revisit select iconic styles from his collections. The ‘Dandelion’ loafer received the Sabyasachi magic touch with an embroidered toe-cap recalling traditional Indian wedding shoes while ‘Louis Junior’ is transformed into an incredibly rich patchwork of motifs and colours.
PHOTO: VOGUE
The ‘Piloutin,’ an evening bag designed to look like a precious pillow, was created from Sabyasachi sari ribbons collection. As a declaration of love to the glamorous Bollywood actresses dressed in Sabyasachi, an adorable Poupette handbag charm was created to complement the bags, adorned with embroidered ribbons and crystals, said a statement.
PHOTO: VOGUE
The two associated first in July 2015, when Louboutin conspired to create the extraordinary shoes that walked the runway of Sabyasachi’s annual couture show held in Mumbai, followed again in October 2016, with a small number of exquisite handbags added to pair with the shoes.
PHOTO: VOGUE
The collection will launch exclusively at Harrods, next Thursday, October 11.
