Christian Louboutin on men’s footwear and those prized, unforgiving stilettos after Dubai boutique opening

The French luxury shoe designer Christian Louboutin makes a flying visit to Abu Dhabi and explains the fundamental difference between men's and women's attitudes to shoes.

Christian Louboutin at his Abu Dhabi store in The Galleria, Al Maryah Island. Lee Hoagland / The National

Christian Louboutin, who is unapologetic about the pain that can be inflicted on women who wear a pair of his sought-after, red-soled high heels, gives a blunt “no” when asked if men would ever put up with such discomfort from their shoes.

Men also, of course, usually don’t wear stilettos. But as the French luxury shoe designer explains, there is more to it than that.

While visiting the UAE to officially open his first standalone men’s boutique in the region, at the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, the Paris-born Louboutin also paid a quick visit to the capital on Friday for his first peek at the Christian Louboutin boutique in The Galleria, Al Maryah Island.

He then sat down for lunch at Zuma and for his only newspaper interview – with The National.

Before anyone gets grumpy about his explanations for a male-over-female tolerance for shoe pain, Louboutin would probably advise them to watch each gender while they are shopping. Shoes can change the very posture of a woman, he argues; for men they need to be grounding.

“A man doesn’t really wear his shoes the way a woman wears her shoes,” he says. “If you go to a store, if you see a woman try on a pair of shoes, it’s a very simple thing: you see, she puts the shoes on and she goes straight for the mirror and she looks at herself, she’s not even looking at her shoes, she really looks at her entire silhouette. And a man doesn’t do that ... with the man it’s like: ‘Am I sitting well? It doesn’t change the gravity centre?’”

The 52-year-old Louboutin, who grew up with three sisters, has been designing for women for more than 23 years. But although he had long created custom shoes for himself and a few friends, it wasn’t until the Lebanese-British singer-songwriter Mika phoned about four years ago – wanting some custom-designed shoes to give him “energy” throughout an upcoming concert tour – that he considered going into that side of the business.

“I told him: ‘Why are you asking me to design for men what I design for women?’ And he said: ‘It’s very simple, there is something that you do with your shoes, which is crazy. I see my three sisters, I see my girlfriend, they all go mad when they put your shoes on, there is something kinetic, which I cannot explain, but it makes people really excited.’”

The men’s line was born in 2011 and Mika, the “I blame the boy” spark for it all, still has some models named after him. Dressed down on Friday in a golf shirt, shorts and a pair of his own studded boat shoes – all the better to use the front of his foot to scratch the back of his calf, he says, with delight – Louboutin was pleased with the reaction to Dubai’s new men’s boutique, which is only the seventh in the world.

“Men are very sophisticated in the region,” he says. “They are very neat, the fabric is impeccable, they dress well, they really have attention, the beard is trimmed – so there definitely is an element where they are very comfortable how they look.”

Louboutin’s autumn/winter 2014 men’s collection features classic brogues and brogue-style boots; suede and patent lace-ups; a variety of intricately stitched and beaded velour slip-ons and chunky, medium-heeled ankle boots. There are fun, flat sneakers and blinged-out high-tops, the most attention-seeking feature aggressive, gold-ringed perforations. Accents take the form of studs, spikes and tassels, wild animal hair and lizard skin, plaid and bows. The shoes are anchored, of course, by that iconic scarlet sole.

While some more outrageous styles are tailored to the actual showman, professional athlete and aesthete, the designer believes his shoes continue to appeal because fanciful qualities of each are reflected in his more down-to-earth customers.

“In every woman there is a showgirl,” says Louboutin. “Same for men."