Christian Louboutin

"Istanbul is inspiring because it has its own code of architecture, literature, poetry, music."

"A shoe is not only a design, but it's a part of your body language, the way you walk. The way you're going to move is quite dictated by your shoes."

"At age 12 or 13, I wanted to design for showgirls - for the theater!"

"Even today, I am still very child-like while designing. It's a bit like Christmas - each of your designs you create is like unravelling your presents."

"High heels empower women in a way."

"I hate the whole concept of comfort! It's like when people say: 'Well we're not really in love but we're in a comfortable relationship.' You're abandoning a lot of ideas when you're too into comfort."

"I have no problem with the idea of comfort, but it is not an important thing aesthetically. If you look at a shoe and immediately say it looks very comfortable, in terms of design, it is not going to excite me. Of course, I am not putting nails in my shoes to ensure everybody is in pain, but a heel is not a pair of slippers and never will be."

"I never wanted to design clothes. I never wanted to work for the fashion industry. Shoes sort of belong to the fashion industry, which is why I'm part of the fashion industry. But that's never been my thought. My thought since I was a child was really to design those shoes for girls on stage."

"I never wanted to work in fashion. At age 12 or 13, I wanted to design for showgirls - for the theater! And I was crazy for the Hollywood of the 1950s: Dietrich, Elizabeth Taylor, Jennifer Jones. They were my idea of glamour - and Sylvie Vartan, the French singer."

"I never was interested in being part of the fashion world - I just wanted to design shoes. I didn't even know 'Vogue' existed when I was growing up. 'Vogue,' what is that?'"

"I was born in Paris in the mid-1960s, and by the time I was 12 I had started going to the movies by myself. Most of the movies of that period never appealed to me. I didn't like the 'naturalism,' the sad or the 'down-to-earth' characters. What I wanted from film was fantasy, dreams, funny situations, extravagant decor - and beautiful women."

"I'd already decided I wanted to design shoes after I saw a sign in the Museum of African and Oceanic Art forbidding high heels. Well, who could resist?"

"I'm a designer, and I think if you work in fashion, you have to give people fantasy."

"If you do what you love, it is the best way to relax."

"Strangely enough, I really think that shoes are a communication tool between people."