Christian Louboutin has been giving fashionistas something to talk about for over two decades. This year, he celebrates his 20^th anniversary with much more than candle-laden cake or fine china. His 20^th anniversary capsule collection (feted with a visit to NYC’s Bergdorf Goodman) and self-titled book offering an inside look into the world of Louboutin debuted earlier this year. But that’s not all. Most excitingly—and buzz worthy—has been London’s Design Museum retrospective of the designer’s past twenty years.  

Its momentous opening on May 1^st marked the first of its kind for the designer and a soon to be record-breaking exhibition. It has been the most visited exhibit for the Design Museum to date, bringing in over 38,000 visitors in less than two months. To do the math—that’s an average of around 900 people per day. In fact, the response has been so overwhelming; the Design Museum has extended their hours on selected days this week and weekend in anticipation of the July 9^th closing. (We’ll quietly liken it to the extravagant response to The Metropolitan’s Alexander McQueen exhibit—but it still has a ways to go.) The man himself said of the exhibit, "It's been a real pleasure to see a lot of my 'babies' featured all together for the first time. It's not only an entire collection of shoes that I saw there but for me a huge collection of souvenirs, precious moments, and very rarely sorrows." 

A visit to the retrospective (or Louboutin lover’s Mecca as we’d call it) would find a celebration of Louboutin’s career from intern to icon. It is a “magical journey of style, glamour, power, femininity and elegance,” according to the Design Museum. Glorious displays of lacquered red-sole creations (more than 200 pairs from Louboutin’s archives), endless examples of design inspiration, and a three-dimensional holograph of the stiletto siren Dita Von Teese all capture the essence of unforgettable designs. His inspirations are divided into themes from Travel and Architecture to The Showgirl and Entertainment. If there was ever any doubt, we’re now totally sure Louboutin’s high heels were meant to be showstoppers.