It’s not every day that Christian Louboutin takes over the Eiffel Tower to put on a show. From a boat ride on the gorgeous Seine river, to going all out with their SS23 presentation replete with showmanship, dancers, and pizzazz, Louboutin threw what most people would call the party of a lifetime. At the heart of the show, however, were the covetable new designs by Christian Louboutin right from the Lipstrass heel, launched in September and featured on some of the Maison’s most iconic uppers, this playful take on the classic stiletto is given a festive makeover with 700 hand-applied crystals and a contrasting gold laminato lining, to the Fluo heels, which are peak Barbiecore.

But while the presentation was definitely the talk of the town, Summiyya Patni of House Of Misu fame got the opportunity to explore the famed L’Atelier Sur-Mesure, Chrisitan Louboutin’s exclusive atelier where custom order shoes are made to measure. Offering the ultimate Cinderella experience, the one-of-a-kind atelier is located just a few doors from the first-ever Christian Louboutin store. With an unassuming facade from the outside, it’s only when you enter the workshop and step beyond the red door that the magic unfolds.

With a meticulous system in place and an eight-step process, only three people work on each of the shoes. A special order shoe can take up to a year to make, and the attention to detail from the first measurement to the end is impeccable. Patni got to experience the process first-hand and says, “So from the time you conceptualize the shoe to the time you get it in your hand, it’s around a year, a year and a half, and if you keep going back, then it becomes lesser. But for them to get the ideal shape of your foot for the first time, it takes one year.”

While you might assume that an exclusive service might have elves working around the clock to create the perfect shoe, three incredibly talented craftspeople create it from scratch. The shoe’s inception starts with Adrian, who takes the measurements and creates the pattern, followed by John Batiste, who stitches the shoe in a 2D format, and Nathaniel, who mounts everything. With multiple steps in between, the final touches are put on the shoe, and the nitty-gritty is fixed. Each process is handmade, except for the last detail when the hot press machine attaches the shoe’s sole along with the atelier’s symbol in gold foil.

The uber-personalised experience of the atelier has found itself extremely loyal patrons who have been visiting for years and boasts of an exclusive and star-studded clientele.