Throughout the 70s and 80s, Guy Bourdin took pictures of women and, sometimes, parts of women. These images were surreal, glamorous, ghostly, graphic (in both senses), witty and sexy. The women were anonymous, and often dressed in swimsuits, occasionally with tights as well. They had props: telephones, teddy bears, beds, dolphins, bus stops. More often than not, their shoes were at the centre of the images.
This is because Bourdin, who took pictures for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, was also employed by shoe brand Charles Jourdan from the mid-60s, and he produced their ad campaigns until the early 80s. It is these images, understandably, that Christian Louboutin pays homage to with the images for his own advertising campaign this season. In one, we see a girl crouching in green tights and blue platforms, with the image cropped at her waist in a Bourdinian manner. In another, one girl – wearing a leopard print leotard and glitter tights – lies back, with a fish-netted leg, complete with platform, across her in the foreground. Yet another sees the same girl again on her back with her legs folded up to her chest and her face obscured, but a set of striped ankle boots plain for all to see.
In a route one way, this influence makes a lot of sense – the purpose of both sets of images is to create striking pictures that put shoes in the centre. Louboutin has always veered on the side of showgirl style – he even dabbles with the trapeze – so Bourdin’s glossy, scantily clad aesthetic was always going to appeal. The photographer’s work, particularly since last year’s exhibition at Somerset House, is a reference that appeals in a wider fashion moment that is all about the 70s and 80s party girl (see Hedi Slimane’s last collection for Saint Laurent). This season’s Louboutin designs, called Oh You Pretty Things, have a 70s feel.
Perhaps that is why the Louboutin pictures feel quite retro. It’s there in the glitter tights, the Bowie lightning stripe on the girl’s arm, the red backdrop, the ruched belt. This is a polite imitation of a style rather than taking Bourdin’s influence and remaking it for 2016. The weirdness is faded, so these images feel more common-or-garden “sexy”, they miss the unsettling element there in Bourdin’s images. The conclusion? A combination of glamour, sex and surrealism is still a solid gold formula for advertising shoes. But the originals remain the best.
