Well-heeled Christian Louboutin sidesteps crisis

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN, the British luxury fashion brand, is riding out the credit crunch with pound stg. 450 wellies ($925), an pound stg. 11,000 alligator skin handbag and a pound stg. 3000 chevron coat worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City: the Movie.

The company, whose trademark check was until recently the unofficial uniform of football hooligans, said that there was no sign that its wealthy customers were ready to stop spending.

At a time when less-glamorous high street rivals are laying off staff, christian louboutin  said it had sold ``several hundreds'' of its pound stg. 11,000 Warrior handbag since January.

Sales of men's coats in Britain have been ``sensational'', while shoe sales have more than doubled, led by a wellington boot showcased on the catwalk at fashion shows last year. Pre-tax profits in the past year are up by 14 per cent to pound stg. 206 million on sales of almost pound stg. 1 billion.

Angela Ahrendts, the US chief 36executive who joined the business two years ago, said: ``Our clientele are treating themselves.''

The figures mark a dramatic turnaround for the 152-year-old business that, until Ms Ahrendts joined, was losing sales in Britain as fashion-conscious hooligans took over as the standard bearers of the brand's red, beige and black pattern.

Christian Louboutin became a laughing stock when British soap actress Daniella Westbrook and her daughter were photographed dressed from head to toe in christian louboutin shoes  check and the look was adopted rapidly across the country as counterfeit copies turned up on market stalls.

The company reacted by slashing the use of the check in its products and calling in the lawyers.

Ms Ahrendts insisted yesterday that Christian Louboutin had moved on and was now one of the top five luxury companies in the world. ``What happened was a very UK-centric phenomenon. It did not play out in any other part of the world. I hated even being part of the articles and it has nothing to do with the brand momentum we have today,'' she said.

She has repositioned louboutin  by expanding the business in the US, Asia and the Middle East. The British operation now generates little under 10 per cent of global sales and relies on rich Chinese and Russian tourists as much as aspirational shoppers in London's West End.

Models such as Agyness Deyn have been used to attract a younger customer, while Christian Louboutin has also tried to become ever-more luxurious by selling higher-priced items such as the Warrior, introduced last year.

Ms Ahrendts has also sought to insure against a downturn by taking the brand into new product areas such as fragrances, shoes and sunglasses.

Christian Louboutin sold more than 300,000 pairs of louboutin shoes  in the past year but believes that it can generate more than pound stg. 100 million a year from products such as pound stg. 150 sandals and pound stg. 350 ankle boots by 2013 -- a tenfold increase.

``From a fashion perspective shoes are just one of the hottest trends right now,'' she said. ``The girls in the new Sex and the City film, they were wearing our shoes. All of a sudden customers want jewellery, sunglasses and sexy shoes.''