Christian Louboutin’s Pigalle is the pointy-toe, red sole pump that the designer once said defined his career. But lately people have started asking whether Louboutin has stopped making Pigalle altogether.
As at 2024, Pigalle has not been officially discontinued, or at least Christian Louboutin has not announced that Pigalle has been discontinued. However the writing is certainly on the wall for these shoes.
In recent times, the Pigalle heel has assumed a much less prominent place on Louboutin’s own website. You can still find a pair of Pigalles if you search for them (they’re US$795 a pair). But the heels are no longer listed under the “essentials” category.
Louboutin is placing much more prominence on his So Kate and Kate heels as a modern alternative to Pigalle instead. Pigalle launched in 2004, with So Kate following in 2013. Kate, which is So Kate with a less tall heel, launched in late 2020.
Both on the Louboutin website and in social media, Louboutin has showcased So Kate and Kate in ways that Pigalle used to be featured. Meanwhile Pigalle has all but disappeared.
Each of Kate and So Kate differ from Pigalle in subtle ways. The most obvious is the thickness of the heel. Pigalle has a much thicker heel than Kate and So Kate and is generally considered more comfortable.
So Kate is named after Kate Moss, whose favorite shoes were actually the Pigalle before So Kate came along.
Equally ironically, Louboutin’s website said that So Kate was “sure to gather a following just as devoted” as Pigalle when the new shoe launched. However it seems now that So Kate has surpassed Pigalle in popularity.
It might be that Kate (which is So Kate with a more modest heel height) will overtake them both, particularly as heel heights have shrunk from the popular 4 and 5 inches of the last couple of decades. Either way, it might be best to stock up on Pigalle heels now if you like them because we get the feeling that they might not be around for much longer.