Louboutin on 30 years of red obsession

Image: Christian Louboutin It was 30 years ago that Christian Louboutin borrowed his assistant's nail varnish to fix a problematic sole and inadvertently created a design that would make him globally famous. It was 1993 and Louboutin, then 30, was examining a pink and purple shoe prototype. The black sole was too dominant, he felt, and so called for his assistant. "I took the nail polish and erased the black. I wasn't thinking to add the red," he recalled to AFP in his brightly decorated Paris apartment. "But suddenly it was a revelation!" The earlier idea of releasing a different colour sole each season never materialised. "People who don't like to wear colours still like red," he said. "The obsession began with the fact that red is more than just a colour for me. "I have very early memories of women dressed in black but already with red nails and lips. It began with cinema, the actresses of the 1950s like Sophia Loren." He marked the 30th anniversary of his famous red sole this week with a dance performance at the Opera Comique and will soon open his first hotel in Portugal named "Vermelho" (Red). The black stiletto with the red sole remains his best-selling model, despite the range of flats and mid-heels. He rejects the idea of heels as anti-feminist, saying he delights in seeing customers put on a pair of stilettos and admire themselves "front, profile and back" without caring what their "husband, boyfriend or girlfriend will think". Or little girls trying on their mother's heels without anyone telling them to: "There is a kind of infantile pleasure in seeing life from a little higher up." For him, heels are a symbol of female empowerment. He thinks of Tina Turner in her heyday, or Beyonce now, teetering on heels but incarnating "feminism, much more than someone who lets themselves go". With the passing of lockdowns and lounging around in pyjamas, it is time to celebrate, he added. His new collection, inspired by flamenco, sees him collaborate with Rossy de Palma, the flamboyant Spanish star of many Pedro Almodovar movies. "I like singular people, and there is only one Rossy," he said. "Someone who exudes amusement, pleasure, laughter, everything."(AFP)
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Express COO Matthew Moellering to retire in May

Image: Express store, Business Wire Fashion apparel retailer Express, Inc. has announced the retirement of the company’s president & chief operating officer, Matthew Moellering, effective May 5, 2023. “Matt has been an exceptional leader who has made significant contributions over the last 20 years including being a key driver of the Expressway Forward strategy and an integral part of our transformation. He has also been an invaluable thought partner to me over the last three years, offering the full breadth of his experience and perspective, and I appreciate his conviction for our corporate strategy and his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition for his successor,” said Tim Baxter, the company’s chief executive officer. Moellering, the company said in a statement, has been with Express since 2003 and was appointed to his current position in September 2019. He served as interim CFO from October 2021 to March 2022 and interim CEO & president from January – June 2019; was appointed as COO in 2011 and previously served as CAO & CFO from 2009 to 2011, and CFO from 2007 to 2009. “I have had an incredible experience over these last 20 years and especially enjoyed the last few years working with Tim to launch and advance the Expressway Forward strategy, and with this executive leadership team to transform the Express brand and begin a bold new chapter that will transform the company. I am confident that the new strategic partnership with WHP Global will create a bright future and position the company well moving forward,” added Matt Moellering. The company added that he was an instrumental member of the executive leadership team that took the company public in May of 2010. Prior to joining Express, he held leadership roles at Procter & Gamble from 1995 to 2003. Moellering was also an officer in the United States Army and is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
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Arezzo acquires Italian footwear label Paris Texas

Image: Paris Texas via Paris Texas Facebook Arezzo, the Brazilian footwear conglomerate, has taken a majority stake in buzzy shoe label Paris Texas. Arezzo & Co. invested 25 million euros to acquire 65 percent of the Italian label founded in 2015, according to Footwear News. Sales by the young company are thought to be around 15 million euros in 2022. Paris Texas was launched Annamaria Brivio with backing by Massimo Baltimora, of Baltimora Studio, both of whom will stay on as executive officers of the brand until at least the end of the fiscal year of 2027. This is Arezzo’s first international acquisition, which has seen the company achieve record growth last year. In Q3 2022 Arezzo said it sold 5.8 million pairs of shoes and 826,000 handbags. Overall sales increased 47 percent to 1.4 billion reals, approximately 252 million euros. The brand describes itself as Parisian elegance meets the Western wild spirit in a unique creation called Paris Texas.
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