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    Christian Louboutin Makes a Splash at Paris Fashion Week

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    Christian Louboutin enlisted the French Olympic synchronized swimming team to introduce his new Miss Z stilettos at Paris Fashion Week.Christian Louboutin made a splash at Paris Fashion Week on Friday night: He staged “Paris is Louboutining,” a synchronized swimming spectacle at the Piscine Molitor.The Art Deco pool, designed by Lucien Pollet in 1929, was transformed into a watery burlesque that would sink Esther Williams with envy. Mr. Louboutin enlisted the photographer and music video director David LaChapelle for art direction, Blanca Li for choreography, a troupe of 14 dancers and 15 members from the French Olympic artistic swimming team for an underwater performance done entirely in his new Miss Z stilettos. The musician LP sang on the pool deck.Even before the Paris Olympics, Mr. Louboutin had been taken with the idea of using athletes to present his collection. He envisioned something surprising, “where you would not expect athletes and you would not expect shoes,” Mr. Louboutin said before the show. “I thought, basically, swimming.”Known for his slick red-leather-soled shoes, Mr. Louboutin also has a love of dance, camp and glamour. His first job was at the Folies Bergère, and he got his start designing shoes for showgirls. He has collaborated with Crazy Horse, Paris’s tastefully nude cabaret, and staged his Loubi shows, the dance and music presentations he orchestrates to showcase new collections, with various choreographers and performers.“Paris is Louboutining” took the concept to another level. The entire revue was fabulously over the top, beginning with its title, a play on the documentary “Paris Is Burning.”Members of the Olympic swim team slid down a giant mule …via Christian Louboutin… and into the pool for their synchronized performance.via Christian LouboutinWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Swimmer Trying to Make Olympic History Is Left Off the U.S. Team

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      When the sport of artistic swimming, formerly synchronized swimming, announced it would allow men to compete in the Paris Games, Bill May saw his chance. But the U.S. team chose only women.Bill May, the 45-year-old artistic swimmer who was vying for a chance to be the first man to compete in the sport at the Olympics this summer, did not make the U.S. team’s final roster, the team announced on Saturday.Of the 12 people on the U.S. artistic swimming team, only eight, plus an alternate, were chosen to travel to the Paris Games in July. Mr. May, the only man on the team — who became eligible for the Olympics when a rule change opened the competition to men for the first time — was not among them.Mr. May, who also works as the head coach of Santa Clara Artistic Swimming, one of the premier clubs in the country, did not immediately respond to a request for a comment on the decision. He said in a recent interview with The New York Times that it would be “almost like a slap in the face” if men were not represented at the Paris Games.Adam Andrasko, chief executive of USA Artistic Swimming, called Mr. May “an inspiration.”But, Mr. Andrasko said, the team had to send the strongest squad possible to Paris. One of the complicating factors is that all eight athletes have to swim all three routines — technical, free and acrobatic — and they can’t swap in and out depending on their individual strengths.“Unfortunately, the rules of artistic swimming only allow for eight athletes to swim all three routines,” Mr. Andrasko said in a statement. ”We will continue to celebrate Bill and support male participation across the sport while also celebrating the story of these eight incredible women.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More