French footwear giant Christian Loubutin is ahead of the game. Hisis the first to include darker colors in his nude shoes collection—a meaningful step toward recognizing racial diversity in the fashion industry.
Launched in 2013, the Nude collection now has more styles and six darker shades than usual. The latter comes in variations of deep chocolate and sienna. They’re the warmer and welcome contrast to the peach and beige-hued pairs.
Joining the collection are styles Deepik, a peep-toe with scalloped edges, and Dorrisima, a take on the classic Louboutin pumps.
It’s about time, really. Since God knows when, we’ve come in different skin colors ourselves. When nude shoes made a splash at a later millennium, particularly in 2010, critics have argued that nude didn’t quite capture everybody.
Today, as more and more designs and creations become politicized—and sometimes, rightly criticized—expect pioneering designers to make the necessary steps to forward a cause apart from their empires.
Photo courtesy of Louboutin