Christian Louboutin was born in France in 1963 and is said to have become obsessed with the silhouette of the stiletto heel at a young age. He credits watching Paris show girls in their fancy costumes and footwear for fueling this passion. He ultimately left school to pursue this interest, studying design and also traveling broadly. He landed an apprenticeship with famed shoemaker Roger Vivier, who is known for creating the stiletto heel and who taught Louboutin the craft of building a shoe. Louboutin also learned some of his design tricks under the tutorage of Chanel and Yves St Laurent , taking what he learned in these and other prestigious settings to eventually start his own brand. He opened his first boutique in Paris and his career took off from there.
