Christian Louboutin has reunited with actor Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina for the third edition of their “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” (WAMIMS) capsule collection.
Co-designed by the Elbas and Louboutin, the trio were inspired by the codes and colors associated with African culture including the use of braiding to symbolize the bond of their friendship, the French shoe designer said. Plus, a new dedicated print is also used throughout the collection that incorporates the WAMIMS acronym into its colorful pattern.
“With Walk a Mile in My Shoes the braid has been a kind of ‘fil rouge’ through that collection, a kind of homage to different cultures in Africa,” Christian Louboutin told FN. “Idris, Sabrina, and I have such different identities– the braid symbolizes how our vision is stronger when connected.”
The print and braids appear on women’s and men’s shoes and leather goods, and additional personal touches are woven into the collection throughout. The 2002SL low men’s sneaker, introduced in the second collection, is updated with a design featuring the WAMIMS print, but its name is a reference to Idris’s personal life with the year his daughter was born and his origins in Sierra Leone.
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The Fatima 120 stiletto heel emphasizes Louboutin’s famously confident curves with braided straps and is named after Sabrina’s sister Fatima, while her youngest sister inspired the name of the Hibaq 55, a lower-heeled shoe with straps made of multiple fine braids.
The idea of the first “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” collection came in 2020 after Christian Louboutin listened to a live online discussion the Elbas were having that year with Ayo Tometi, co-founder of Black Lives Matter. After reaching out to the couple to help continue their mission to raise awareness for social justice, the charity-based collaboration was born.
With the collaboration of Sabrina, Idris and Christian, the initiative helped raise $2 million in just two years. To focus on long-term support, this year’s profits will be donated to six organizations that have been already part of the WAMIMS initiative and that support social equality and foster young people’s creative development in the U.S., UK, France, Ghana, Somalia and Sierra Leone. These groups include The Gathering For Justice, Elman Peace, Immediate Theatre, The Raining Season, Casa 93, and AfriKids.
According to the designer, the non-profit GlobalGiving receives all proceeds from the WAMIMS collection, then distributes to all of the charities benefiting from this campaign under the name Walk a Mile in My Shoes Fund backed by Christian Louboutin and Sabrina and Idris Elba.
The third Walk a Mile in My Shoes collection is now available online and at select Christian Louboutin boutiques. The special capsule will also be available at select locations of Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks.com, the collection’s exclusive retail partner.
