Introduced on March 29, 2016, at a mere, $595, the classic shoe designer, Christian Louboutin, is introducing ballerina flats into its “Nudes Collection.” Complete with beautiful photography, stunning costumes, and captivating lighting, what is even more remarkable about this collection is the vast meaning of the word “nude.”
When I first caught wind of this new introduction to the iconic Louboutin brand, I was immediately in shock. A shoe designer who featured nude as more than one color; I mean to be honest, my skin is so light that it hardly ever fits in the category of “nude,” anyway. But upon looking more into this new introduction and the ad itself, I quickly remembered that the collection itself is called “Nude Collection,” featuring three, now four, kinds of heel, in seven different colors. What I thought was the most important part of this (what I thought was new) beautiful ad was the difference in skin colors, and low and behold, it has already been around, for SIX YEARS. That’s a long time in the fashion world. And because I was so stunned, that got me thinking.
Why doesn’t this have as much support? Why aren’t many people talking about this? Why do more people not care that a designer chose to deviate from the stereotypical “nude” and not only create more than one nude, but center an entire collection around the beauty in different skin colors?
From there, I began to research other designers that have taken this into consideration and really struggled to find a happy ending featuring several shades of “nude.” Aside from pantyhose or tights, if you think about it, when undergarments are “nude,” they are a a lighter, tan hue, not several shades of “nude,” as the color spectrum that it should be.
The campaign spread across social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, collecting likes, hearts, and hashtags from over 72.4 thousand people.
That being said, Louboutin deserves attention for this commendable action in the fashion world. Though I may not be able to afford a new pair of “red bottoms” right now, I hope to someday be able to own a pair, give a pair to a friend, maybe of a different skin tone than me, and I hope to purchase from that company because they support the equality of all. Even though this is not the direct message of the campaign, because they are introducing the new flats, I would argue that through this advertisement, Louboutin has increased in