His personal connection to the Palais de la Porte Dorée lends the show added interest and authenticity. The building was co-designed by Albert Laprade, Léon Jaussely and Léon Bazin for the 1931 International Colonial Exhibition. Sculptor Alfred Janniot carved its ornate, exotic bas-relief façade picturing ships, oceans, antelopes and snakes. Eugène Printz and Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann oversaw its interiors whose murals were painted by Pierre-Henri Ducos de la Haille, among other artists.
“About six years ago, I took my CEO Bruno Chambelland there. It had been empty for 10 years, it was dusty, in need of restoration. I contacted [executive director] Hélène Orain. As I remembered the museum from back then and the staff didn’t, they joked I was its best ambassador and asked if I’d consider restoring parts of it. I helped restore the façade and furniture. Gradually, we conceived the idea for this exhibition, which also features several of my collaborations with other designers.”
Stepping up
As an errant child, Louboutin also frequented the area’s cinemas. “I was fascinated by the Egyptian and Bollywood movies they screened.” Coincidentally, six years ago, one of his sisters revealed that he was in fact the love child of his mother and an Egyptian man with whom she’d had an affair. “It’s funny, as I fantasised as a child that I’d been adopted, as I was darker skinned than my three blonde sisters. So it was a nice surprise.”