There haven't been any sightings of Zendaya and her signature Christian Louboutin "So Kate" pumps at Paris Fashion Week so far this season. But the legendary shoe designer's installation on Sept. 27 hinted that Z might have a new pair of red bottoms to wear on repeat when they're released in January 2025.
At the Piscine Molitor, an Art Deco pool in the heart of Paris, Christian Louboutin joined forces with artistic director David LaChapelle and choreographer Blanca Li to showcase the brand's forthcoming "new iconic style of the house," per a press release. That shoe's name? The "Miss Z."
The trio of creatives staged an ode to the water ballets of the 1950s in a showcase featuring 14 dancers, 15 swimmers, and several pairs of the new Miss Z shoe. Highly saturated shades of red and blue lit the stage, made up of several windows surrounding a larger-than-life Me Dolly shoe that doubled as a water slide into the historic pool. The French Olympic artistic swimming team eventually took their pumps underwater for a feat of aquatic performance, creating geometric shapes and illusions in the most fashionable example of synchronized swimming in style (and sporting) history. Crucially, everyone's new heels stayed put on their feet.
All that fancy footwork emphasized one of the Miss Z pump's hidden feats. The style, which is set to land in stores by next January in four heel heights and four colors, has heels that are designed to look taller than they really are. An ever-so-slight expansion in the front of the shoe also creates extra space and comes with a padded insole. The result: a shoe that's elegant enough for any red carpet, while leveling up on the comfort a sneakers-and-flats generation wants from their footwear.
Those features are sure to appeal to Zendaya and her stylist, Law Roach. The duo have been incorporating Louboutin's "So Kate" 120mm pumps—named for the legendary model Kate Moss—into her wardrobe since she was 14. She's continued to wear them in all colors of the rainbow for appearances ranging from official Challengers red carpets to unofficial stops by boyfriend Tom Holland's West End run in Romeo and Juliet this summer. The shoes, Roach said in an interview with Recho Omondi's Cutting Room Floor podcast, are both versatile and an important part of elevating Zendaya's image—literally. With each time Z wore the towering heels, "It kind of became our thing,” Roach said. “And now, her feet are just kinda like trained. She could wear them all day, she could dance in ’em, she could kick her legs up, she can run down stairs."
According to Louboutin's Paris Fashion Week presentation, the Miss Z style takes that sense of versatility even further. If she wanted to, she could even swim in them. Nevertheless, most fashion fans will be excited just to see her one day take the Miss Z for a red carpet walk.
Editor's note: This post has been updated to accurately reflect the shoe silhouette used as a water slide during the Christian Louboutin presentation.
