When he was a teenager, Christian Louboutin fell in love with India from watching films at a cinema near his home in Paris. He made his first trip at 16 years old, and ever since, he has maintained what he describes as a “lifelong love affair” with the country, the culture and the people.
Now, he has infused his passion into a new exhibition, “Textile Matters: Woven Stories Between India and France,” at the Mobilier National in Paris, overseeing the art direction and collaborating with guest curator Manyank Mansingh Kaul.
“When you go to India, you see so many things of really beautiful quality and beautiful colors everywhere,” Louboutin said during a preview. “So even if certain techniques no longer exist, there is still so much [that continues], and it’s interesting to compare countries. India still has incredible craft, and that’s partly because there are people fighting for it.”
His sense for flair and flamboyance adds to an already sumptuous theme. Think: an anti-chamber in which every inch of surface is fully paneled in hand-drawn, hand-printed fabric—antique furniture, classical statues, logs in a fireplace, magnolia flowers strewn on a table, even a candle flame—by artisans from the House of Kandadu. Consider the section titled “Indian Chic” where mannequins outfitted in a number of designer gowns and saris are positioned in runway formation and surrounded by Rithika Merchant’s wall-to-wall tapestries from the Dior spring 2026 haute couture show.
The exhibition covers a timeline of some 400 years and spans modest muslin and historical chintz to the spectacular gold metallic corset and embroidered sari encircled by rings of Saturn designed by both Schiaparelli and Sabyaschi for Natasha Poonawala’s attendance at this year’s Met Gala. Interspersed among the seven sections are works from contemporary artists and designers who have passed through the Villa Swagatam residency program organized between France and South Asia.
The Mobilier National, which safeguards and curates the State’s collection of furniture and textiles—and places pieces in presidential, ministerial, and diplomatic residences—makes for a fitting backdrop. The show space sits within a historic tapestry manufactory in the 13th arrondissement, where two voluminous halls are conducive to large-scale, immersive statements.
In fact, the initial idea for the exhibition can be credited to French President Emmanuel Macron. Following his state visit to India and time with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2024, he encouraged different ways to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. The “bi-national” show, which is titled “Ce Qui Se Trame” in French, is supported by the French embassy in India and the French Institute in India; and it effectively typifies a kind of soft-power diplomacy while also celebrating genuine artistry.
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Louboutin felt an imperative to “reframe” the textiles—emphasizing the living practice and counterbalancing some of the more technical aspects. “There were some very beautiful textiles, but when you start [explaining] the difference between one thread and another, I said, ‘French people don’t care.’ This is for specialists and professionals who have a passion for that. It would bore everyone to death. And that’s where I stepped in,” he said.
There are discoveries galore. The fashion section features a Christian Dior silk lamé sari from 1953 created for Princess Lilian of Belgium and more lamé from Saint Laurent whose seductively draped gown from fall 1991 clearly nods to saris. There is a shimmery, marigold Chanel ensemble from the fall 1968 haute couture collection and then more recent creations: swirling and sculptural from Gauruv Gupta and poetically embroidered from Rahul Mishra. In the final section is one of Le Corbusier’s tapestries designed for the legislative assembly in Chandigarh.
Louboutin seemed particularly adamant that people do not confuse cultural appropriation with “cultural fascination.” “I create things that show interest in world cultures; it’s just how I work. People exchange and learn from others and that’s what trading cultures is all about,” he said. “You have to defend your values and that’s why I insist on this. I don’t want to hear that suddenly, you shouldn’t look at another culture.”
He pointed out how the word denim is a portmanteau of “de Nîmes,” the French city that originally manufactured the proto fabric, and now India has become one of the largest denim producers in the world.
Interestingly, Kaul noted the Sanskrit word kala encompasses “artistry” and “craftsmanship” in place of a designated word for design. “There is still a sensitivity to something that is not just labor,” which is often how craft is looked at. I think there is a reverence—not just how they are produced, but how they are received,” he explained.
Over the weekend, the exhibition extends to a festival that includes the participation of Le 19M, the specialist manufacturers belonging to Chanel. There are workshops dedicated to weaving a charpai bed and dying indigo along with round-table discussions around savoir faire or the history of madras and music/dance performances each evening through Sunday. Louboutin will host a masterclass on December 19, discussing his deep attachment to India and the country’s craftsmanship.
Of course, the opportunity to ask how things are advancing with Jaden Smith—named the brand’s first men’s creative director back in September—proved irresistible. Louboutin smiled and kept mum, saying, “It’s going very well,” and that the first collection will be revealed in January.
As for the always-fun hypothetical of which work he would take home, Louboutin chose Merchant’s tapestries titled “The Flowers We Grow,” they are fantastical depictions of her ancestors as mystical creatures amidst nature. They involved upwards of 300 artisans from the Chanakya School of Craft who spent approximately 144,000 hours on the embroidery).
Kaul, who is based in Delhi, selected two pieces: a tapestry of a painting by the by Indian artist Viswanadhan, which was produced at the national Gobelins manufactory and is the only such textile work in the Mobililer National from an Indian artist, and a photo series, titled “Made In India,” by Leila Alaoui that evocatively focuses on the hands of women who make garments that bear this label. These anonymous portraits, he said, are at once emotional and important, even if they are not the artisans themselves. “As a visual work, it is the most powerful in the whole exhibition… as you are suddenly hit with the fact of who makes all of these wonderful textiles around us.”
Art-directed by Christian Louboutin, “Textile Matters: Woven Stories Between India and France” runs from December 4, 2025 through January 4, 2026 at the Galerie des Gobelins/Mobilier National in Paris.
