There is no better time to visit the Royal Opera House than during the Christmas season, when the building is at its most beautiful, festooned in lights and full of festive cheer. For those who are attending this season, Christian Louboutin has provided the perfect shoes, designing a limited edition capsule collection inspired by The Royal Ballet’s Christmas production of The Sleeping Beauty.
The collection includes the Miragirl, re-imagined for the ballet’s magical princesses and fairies and available in three colours – red, gold and blush – and as a heeled or flat shoe. Chiffon ankle ties are reminiscent of the traditional ribbon of ballet slippers, while a subtle strass embellishment on transparent PVC adds an ethereal touch.
Also in the collection is the Sleeping Rose, paying homage to choreographer Marius Petipa’s Rose Adage sequence, where Princess Aurora’s four suitors try to entice her with the flower while dancing en pointe. The heeled shoe, available in black and nude, features a rose on the front, as well as spiked thorns on the stiletto heel, intended to reference the spiked stem but also the cursed spindle on which Aurora pricks her finger.
For every Miragirl or Sleeping Rose sold, a pair of pointe shoes will be donated to the Royal Opera House as part of its Pointe Shoe Appeal. So great is the impact on the satin slippers while dancing, that a ballerina can use up to three pairs of shoes in one performance of The Sleeping Beauty alone. It is estimated that The Royal Ballet’s dancers require over 6000 pairs of pointe shoes annually at a cost of around £250,000 per year.
To mark the collection’s launch, Christian Louboutin has also offered a larger donation to assist the Royal Opera House in other projects and performances. So follow suit in supporting the Arts, and treat yourself to an exquisite pair of evening shoes in the process.
Launching on Friday 22 November the limited-edition styles will be exclusive to the Christian Louboutin Mount Street Boutique
17 Mount St, Mayfair, London W1
