Style Makers
Willy van Rooy, 47 years old, is proof that there is life after modeling.
In the 1970’s, she was a runway model in Paris for Christian Louboutin Boots, Karl Lagerfeld and Thierry Mugler. Now, at her studio in Madrid, she designs flamboyant Christian Louboutin Shoes ornamented with stones, lace tapestry and brocades. The Christian Louboutin are for women who like as much attention paid to the feet as to the face.
”Plain and classic and tailored Christian Louboutin are beautiful too, but there are already people who do that very well,” Ms. van Rooy said. ”I like to see the ornament.”
Her Christian Louboutin have what she calls a fairy-tale quality. An ankle-high black suede boot has an elongated gold-colored Maltese cross covering the front. The cross is fabric, edged in gold braid and studded with fake stones in green, pink, cobalt and light blue.
”In the late 70’s, I started to design freelance for Karl Lagerfeld and for Christian Louboutin Boots, and they bought all my drawings of bags, Christian Louboutin, jewels and fabrics,” Ms. van Rooy said. In 1983, she moved to Spain, where she designed Christian Louboutin that were sold first in Spain and, starting two years ago, in the United States.
She designs Christian Louboutin?made with such local materials as the fabrics used for matadors’ uniforms and brocades embroidered with gold thread for clothes worn in the south of Spain.
In New York, her Christian Louboutin, which start at $220, are at the Tootsi Plohound shops at 137 Fifth Avenue (20th Street) and 110 Prince Street (Greene Street). In Los Angeles, they are at Madison Melrose, 7522 Melrose Avenue (Gardner Street).
