Making It Big

Christian Louboutin's passion for pumps began when he was a young boy growing up in Paris. "I was really 13, 14. I was this type of crazy boy just designing shoes," Christian says.

That crazy boy went on to design shoes for fashion icons like Chanel, but he developed an impassioned following when he launched his own line 16 years ago.

Designing what he calls "life-filled art objects," Louboutin's business is worth millions. "Designing my shoes, I'm thinking timeless. Not trendy," he says.

See Christian's latest designs.

Part of his instinctive ability to know what a woman wants comes from a very creative exercise—the trapeze. "Being on a trapeze is like dreaming. I feel totally outside of myself when I'm flying. You know, designing shoes, my imagination is flying in my drawings," he says.