Twin towers: CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN x SABYASACHI

Yes, you may shut your gapping jaws. Our sentiments exactly.

Celebrating 25 years of his eponymous label this year and far from scaling things back, Christian Louboutin is raring to go. Case in point: the forthcoming launch of his latest project, a collaboration with Indian haute couture designer – and Bollywood favourite – Sabyasachi Mukherjee. The exclusive collection sees 15 women’s styles and four menswear styles created using sarees and ribbons from Mukherjee’s atelier archive – cut-offs which have been kept and treasured – making each pair totally original and totally unique.

The limited-edition collection featuring the Louboutin’s infamous red soled shoes and decadent handbags designed using handcrafted sari fabric from the Sabyasachi archives, hit London’s Harrods to rave reviews, and now Bergdorf Goodman, New York — you ready for it?!!

Bergdorf Goodman does an exclusive with Mr. Louboutin himself to talk about his ongoing collaboration with Sabyasachi’s India, and how he sees the BG woman wearing his shoes this season.

BG: We are so excited to launch the Sabyasachi Capsule collection at BG. What was your inspiration for this project?

Christian Louboutin: Sabyasachi is not only a fantastic designer, but also he is the essence of what I have always liked about India. India is really a strong culture, a very rooted culture. We clicked very quickly. I get to meet a lot of people, but it needs to be a personal, not professional connection, to go all the way to a collaboration.

Meet Christian Louboutin and Sabyasachi at Bergdorf Goodman @bergdorfs this evening and get your collaboration shoes signed by them. Time & Date: 5-7 pm Tuesday, October 17, 2017 Venue: 2nd Floor, Bergdorf Goodman, New York. #Sabyasachi #CLxSabyasachi @louboutinworld @cl.india #Louboutin #NewYork @newyork #TheWorldOfSabyasachi

A post shared by Sabyasachi Mukherjee (@sabyasachiofficial) on Oct 17, 2017 at 4:49am PDT

BG: What is your favorite part of the collaborative design process?

CL: It’s always nice to communicate and collaborating is the first stage to communication. When you work in fashion, you bring things to people, you bring pleasure to people, so sometimes it’s actually very nice, especially for me who is doing a very specific thing, to collaborate with people to bring and enhance a different point of view.

Couture tradition is invigorated with creative electricity and sheer joie de vivre, as new and classic Christian Louboutin styles are reinvented and hand-crafted, each one-of-a-kind and some made-to-measure, in the most exquisite sari fabrics – all from @sabyasachioffical’s personal collection. #Sabyasachi #CLxSabyasachi @louboutinworld @cl.india #Louboutin #TheWorldOfSabyasachi

A post shared by Sabyasachi Mukherjee (@sabyasachiofficial) on Oct 10, 2017 at 8:54pm PDT

BG: Do you think fashion & style in Paris and Kolkata complement each other? How does the capsule collection reflect this viewpoint?

CL: When I think of India, the first words that come are beauty, colour, exoticism, smell… Through the religion, the statutes, through the voice, the dancing and their Gods, their characters, the artists, you have a lot of women. The strength of woman is strong in India and in Paris where there are very few limits on what a woman can do.

BG: How do you see the Bergdorf woman wearing the Sabyasachi collection this season?

CL: I really think that the shoes are such a mix of different things. I like, in general, to be surprised by how people are going to wear the shoes, I also like to be surprised by who likes the shoes and for what reasons…I always leave that door completely open.

Inputs and photographs courtesy: Bergdorf Goodman, Vogue UK, Sabyasachi Official