20 years after Christian Louboutin took the fashion world by storm with his red-soled shoes, the French designer is releasing a book that documents his most striking designs to date.

The book offers a comprehensive guide to the Louboutin label, which is a favourite amongst celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Victoria Beckham and the Kardashian sisters. Various celebrities are snapped wearing the shoes everywhere, from running errands at the shops, to prestigious red carpet events.

The pink faux leather exterior and the gold gilded pages make the book as much of a masterpiece as the shoes themselves. It also features a 5 piece fold out cover.

Shoe enthusiasts can expect to admire the beautiful craftsmanship of Louboutin’s one-of-a-kind creations, including the “Dita Cabaret” crystal-studded shoes that were designed especially for burlesque star, Dita Von Teese.

The book is also divided into 6 chapters. The first is a biography of Christian Louboutin, the second shows various interior shots of the brand’s international stores, the third charts 20 years of Louboutin design, number 4 takes an intimate look at the designer’s homes in Paris and Egypt, whist 5 and 6 explore his collaboration with director, David Lynch.

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The innovative designer has launched his first major retrospective exhibition at The Louvre’s ‘Les Arts Décoratifs’ museum in Paris.

The exhibition celebrates Chalayan’s remarkable fashion career, which spans 17 years. It plans to give visitors an insight into the intricate design process that Chalayan applies to every masterpiece, whilst showcasing the end products including; runway clothing, furniture designs, sculptures and new media art. It even gives a rare insight into the thought processes behind each of his collections, with boards of drawings and visual inspirations laid bare.

The event is sponsored by Swarovski, who have sponsored quite a few of Chalayan’s shows over the last 5 years.

As a homage to its sponsors, the show features Chalayan’s 6 Swarovski-studded dresses at the centre of the exhibition. Chalayan describes his collaborations with Swarovski as creating “a new language which combines fashion, performance and design so that we can create something unique every time”.

One innovation that resulted from this collaboration was the Swarovski Floating Dress from the A/W 11 Kaikoku Collection. It was created from polyester resin and fibre glass matting, and then painted in a metallic gold paint with over 50 Swarovski crystal “pollens”.

The dress resembles a shell that the model steps in to. It is also remote controlled, releasing the pollens individually when activated and causing the dress to give the effect of floating. According to Chalayan, the dress symbolises new beginnings as “it can move and go on a journey”.

Noted for his talent for the structure and technological engineering of his garments, Hussein Chalayan also joins the ranks of Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney as a graduate from Central Saint Martins.

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The rap superstar is planning to debut his first clothing collection at the upcoming New York Fashion Week.

He has been busy honing his designing skills by taking up internships with Fendi and designing footwear with Louis Vuitton since 2008. He has also been taking notes from his fashion peers as he is regularly spotted on the front row of fashion week events around the world.

West began working on his own line earlier this year, and is said to have enlisted the help of British knitwear designer, Louise Goldin for guidance on how to break into the Womenswear market.

He has is also working with Louise Wilson – a professor at the top fashion college Central Saint Martins, who’s alumni include Alexander McQueen and John Galliano. Kanye was also seen visiting the prestigious college in London, causing the university to deny reports that he was planning to study with them.

Kanye attracted global media attention after he took to the stage at the Coachella festival in April, wearing a women’s shirt by French designer Celine. A move that has caused people to speculate whether he was channelling inspiration for his own collection.

All of the work towards unveiling the line is reportedly being done at West’s design studios in London and New York, and the aim is to have the collection ready for September to be shown on the runway at New York Fashion Week.

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With a phenomenal amount of catwalk shows and festivals, September looks set to rock the world of fashion across the globe and is an exciting month of the worldwide fashion calendar. We look at the five of the best fashion events scheduled for September 2011.

Semana Internacional de la Moda, Madrid September 1 – 3, 2011

Held at the Parque Ferial Juan Carlos in Madrid, the Semana Internacional de la Moda has become a showcase for fashion designers to promote their forthcoming products, projects and collections. This pulsating fashion event grows each year and last year more than 4,000 visitors flocked to the Ferial Juan Carlos to get a glimpse of the latest fashion coming from one of the world’s leading fashion capitals.

St. Pete Art & Fashion Week, St. Petersburg September 6 – 10, 2011

St. Pete Art & Fashion Week is one of the biggest fashion and art events of the year, attracting some of the most influential designers, buyers, media, artists and models from all over the world. Up and coming designers are encouraged to head to St. Petersburg this September to show off their spring/summer collections.

New York Fashion Week, New York September 8 – 15, 2011

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