For the past year, pop megastar Taylor Swift has been prancing around her glitzy “Eras” tour stage in pairs of red bottoms adorned with crystals.
Designer Christian Louboutin recently told Vogue that he designed 250 pairs of custom shoes for the pop star and her dancers — including 60 new ones for the recent European leg of her tour.
Styles in Swift’s collection include the knee-high Eleonora Botta and the Cate Boot, per Louboutin’s website. Many of the styles are dripping in hand-applied strass crystals.
“The way strass crystals catch the light is super impactful onstage. After all, this is the biggest tour in the world — the girl needs to shine!” Louboutin told Vogue.
Louboutin also told Vogue that he tried to design Swift’s shoes to be comfortable and performance-ready.
Pasquale Fabrizio, designer and owner of Pasquale Shoe Repair in Los Angeles, told Business Insider that the heeled versions of the showpiece shoes aren’t necessarily built for dancing, but the iconic red bottoms carry a sought-after reputation. Many performers wear the shoes onstage, he said.
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“The pinnacle of footwear is Louboutin,” Fabrizio told BI.
Dean Rago of the Rago Brothers, a Louboutin repair shop in Morristown, New Jersey, told BI he could not imagine himself wearing those heels at Swift’s height (the songstress is nearly 6 feet tall). Still, he said some customers find the shoe more comfortable than those from other designers.
“Some people will say that if they’re gonna go that high, they want a Louboutin because they can bear it,” Rago said.
Fabrizio, whose shop has done repair work for celebrities like Oprah and Meryl Streep, said there are ways to help reinforce the shoes — but emphasized that the shoes were never built for “parachute jumping.”
For example, he said a metal brace can be added inside the heels of shoes to help prevent splitting or opening up. This can happen, as evidenced by Swift herself, when one of her heels broke in Brazil.
Rago said customers also protect the shoe’s bottom with a thin piece of red rubber that his shop installs to prevent scuffing.
Vogue reported that Swift began working with Louboutin in 2018 when the designer first lent his designs to her “Reputation” tour.
Years later, she’s still showing loyalty to the brand.
Rago said the shoe is long-lasting and repairs easily — a worthy investment for Swifties inspired to follow in Swift’s footsteps and purchase a pair of their own.
Both Fabrizio and Rago say they’ve seen more and more people coming into their shops over the past few years to have their Louboutin shoes repaired — and Swift may play a role in this trend.
Fabrizio, who said Swift once entered his shop nearly a decade ago, found her loyalty to the brand admirable.
“She’s a big influencer in the brand and product,” Fabrizio said. “Just endorsing it and wearing it allows the younger generation of girls to go after that look. She exemplifies fashion.”
Representatives for Louboutin and Swift did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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