Christian Louboutin has always known how to put on a show — and this season, he brought us back under the stadium lights. Teaming up once again with David LaChapelle and choreographer Blanca Li, the latest Loubi Show ditched the traditional runway in favour of a full-blown performance, where sport met fantasy, and high heels shared the stage with cheerleaders, marching bands and one very chic seahorse mascot.

Set at the Dojo Arena in Paris, the Spring Summer 26 show was inspired by the communal spirit of American homecoming games, reimagined through a high fashion lens. Under LaChapelle’s visionary direction and Li’s kinetic choreography, what unfolded was something so much more than a runway.

The performance was structured into five acts, each reinterpreting traditions of celebration. There were marching bands, cheerleaders in motion, live music by Asphalt (aka Milo Thoretton), dancers embodying football players, and a grand finale that paid homage to Louboutin’s craftsmanship and showmanship.

But it wasn’t just the theatrics that stole the show. Footwear was, of course, the main event — and Louboutin used the stadium as a stage to spotlight the House’s evolving Cassia line. Inspired by the elegance and discipline of ballet, new styles like the Cassia Annmac (think: leg warmers, but elevated), the Cassiasticina (a nod to the classic ballet slipper), and the Ruben (marking the Cassia’s menswear debut) all made their debut, not just on the runway but in movement, twirling, kicking, dancing.

The finale saw Louboutin’s iconic Ballerina Ultima — originally created in 2007 — reinterpreted as towering candles atop a giant cake. Adorned in shimmering strass, the shoes straddled the boundary between costume and sculpture, worn by dancers and presented as a kind of centrepiece. Like much of the show, it was playful, theatrical, and slightly surreal — a reminder that at Louboutin, elegance and excess are never mutually exclusive.

True to LaChapelle’s theatrical sensibilities, the performance was populated by a cast of surreal, high-gloss characters — a baton twirler, a lawnmower-pushing Parisian model, and Louboutin’s favourite animal, the seahorse, reimagined as a sparkling mascot. It was whimsical, irreverent, and unmistakably Loubi.