Sole man

Louboutin lore goes something like this: A young man walks into a museum in Paris and sees a sign -- it's a pair of heels with a line drawn through the middle, a warning to stiletto-wearing women not to scratch the floors. Appalled at the severity of the line but intrigued by the shape and beauty of the shoe, he can think of nothing else.

Fast forward a couple of decades and Christian Louboutin's obsession with shoes has resulted in a privately held business that spans several continents. His shoes with their signature red soles are much coveted by those who live and breathe fashion and are worn by, as the writer Jacques Brunel once wrote, ''the wittiest and the wealthiest" women.

For a designer who counts some of the world's most fashionable women as clients, Louboutin, who is scheduled to make an appearance next week at the Barneys store in Boston, is unmoved by the industry that feeds him.

''I am not all that interested in the fashion world," he says from London in the middle of his shoe-signing tour, ''only in shoes."

''I don't like to think in terms of what will be in for the next season -- I don't design like that, as it passes too quickly."

Surprisingly, it is this anti-fashion philosophy that has won him countless fans. In many cases, his slightly skewed approach to designing shoes has blazed a trail for others to follow. He reinterpreted the platform, injected patent leather with electric hues, and made the humble espadrille the shoe du jour.

''Christian is one of the 'real' people in fashion . . . and there are not a lot of them," says Debi Greenberg, president of Louis Boston. ''He doesn't hide from the world like a lot of designers, and he always seems to be in the right place at the right time for fun and exciting moments. His design talent is innovative but extremely wearable," even if his shoe heels are high, she says.

Louboutin says his unconventional training, watching showgirls from the wings of the famous Parisian cabaret the Folies-Bergeres, helped him understand how a shoe should work.

''You know it is all about the legs and then, naturally, the shoes, as they are really wearing not much else except for some feathers," Louboutin says. ''The shoes for these girls are like a military weapon; they need to be able to go up and down stairs easily and to move."

Later he refined his craft under the tutelage of Charles Jourdan and Roger Vivier and freelanced for the couture houses Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent before opening his first boutique near the Place des Victoires in Paris.

When it comes to the subject of heels, Louboutin admits he prefers a stiletto over a flat, mainly because they look better in the sketches.

''I am not a fascist about heels," says Louboutin, ''but if you can't walk in them, you probably shouldn't be wearing them."

Christian Louboutin will be making an espadrille signing appearance at Barneys Copley Place, May 4, 3-7 p.m., 617-385-3365.