Christian Louboutin's Pop-Up Shop

Among all the beauty that has come to Miami with Art Basel, fashionistas and shoe-aholics are buzzing about Christian Louboutin‘s surreal new store on 40th Street. As orchids sprout beautifully from the location, and Louboutin himself makes a stop at Duncan Quinn‘s across the street for an outfit, the walls to his store are one-way mirrors people can look through to see all the gals trying on these high-priced shoes. “It’s like the Peeping Tom,” says Louboutin with a laugh. Mega high-heeled shoes are placed  in transparent niches like so many holy monuments.

Inside the store, you’ll find blue and blown glass chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, and an entry wall made from wood tiles inscribed with hieroglyphic symbols. Dutch artist Madeleine Berkhemer used recycled pantyhose to create a multi-colored sculpture that stretches across the ceiling with Chrissy Lous dangling overhead in a knot of insects trapped in a cool looking spider web. “We were trying to capture the very moment of a woman falling in love with Christian’s shoes,” says designer Eric Clough, who’s designed several of Louboutin’s other stores. And when asked how the recession affected his luxury brand shoe business, he replied, “You still need to walk.”