Known for his very sexy stilettos with their signature lacquer-red soles, Christian Louboutin is a household name, a master craftsman and has a multi-million dollar brand with boutiques around the world and an international celebrity clientele. This book celebrates nearly 20 years of his work.

A pocket-sized, illustrated book charting the rise of the world's most celebrated shoe designer.

Known for his very sexy stilettos with their signature lacquer-red soles, Christian Louboutin is a household name, a master craftsman and has a multi-million dollar brand with boutiques around the world and an international celebrity clientele. This book celebrates nearly 20 years of his work.

Alain Elkann has mastered the art of the interview. With a background in novels and journalism, and having published over twenty books translated across ten languages, he infuses his interviews with innovation, allowing them to flow freely and organically. Alain Elkann Interviews will provide an unprecedented window into the minds of some of the most well-known and -respected figures of the last twenty-five years.

Killer Heels explores the rich cultural history of the high heel and its relation to power, fantasy, sexuality and identity. More than 160 spectacular contemporary and historical shoe designs - from sixteenth-century Venetian platforms to twenty-first-century Christian Louboutins - are presented around six themes: Revival and Reinterpretation, Rising in the East, Glamour and Transgression, Architecture, Metamorphosis and Space Walk. Going beyond the archetypal forms of stiletto, wedge and platform, these extraordinary designs play with the cultural and artistic possibilities of the high heel, use innovative or unexpected materials and push the limits of functionality, wear ability and beauty. Complementing the shoes are stills, sketches and artist statements for six films specially commissioned for the exhibition from Ghada Amer and Reza Farkhondeh, Zach Gold, Steven Klein, Nick Knight, Marilyn Minter and Rashaad Newsome that explore a range of provocative themes and demonstrate the power of the high heel in the collective imagination. In addition, several of the designers included in the exhibition (including Brian Atwood, Zaha Hadid, Pierre Hardy and Christian Louboutin), along with Elizabeth Semmelhack, Curator of the Bata Shoe Museum, contribute thoughts on topics such as their inspiration and design process and the cultural significance of high heels. Beautiful, informative and just plain fun, this collection of killer heels is filled with stunning photos and fashion lore.

"Shoe Obsession examined our cultures ever-growing fascination with extravagant and fashionable shoes. Accessories used to be just that--secondary to clothing fashions. Today, however, shoes have become the main fashion story, replacing the It bag as the most desirable accessory. High-heeled shoes--the fashion shoes of the 21st century--have become so tall that even a 4-inch heel is considered low. Shoe Obsession featured over 150 examples of the most extraordinary shoe styles of the 21st-century, highlighting the new concepts, constructions, materials, and types of embellishment that have positioned shoes at the height of fashion"--Museum at FIT web site

"Chanel, Alaa̐, Courrg̈es, Pucci, Kenzo, and Missoni . . . but also Yves Saint Laurent, Manolo Blahnik, Franca Sozzani, and Christian Louboutin. From France to Italy, from the UK to Morocco, with stops in the Egyptian desert and the Aegean islands, we are invited on a private visit to the remarkable homes of couturiers, stylists, muses, and fashion personalities. Far from the pressure of the catwalk and atelier, Terestchenko shows the dčor, the works of art, and the personal collections of these highly talented designers. Some interiors, such as Chanel's apartment at 31, rue Cambon, are mythic, while others like those of Victoire de Castellane, the designer of Dior's jewelry line, or Vanessa Seward, the designer of Azzaro, are completely unconventional. Minimal (Nicole Farhi), exotic (Franca Sozanni), and deceptively simple (Loulou de La Falaise) Beyond Chic is for anyone who loves fashion, interiors, and design"--