Women and shoes go together like Adam and Eve.  It’s many a girl’s favorite pastime – looking at new shoes, buying new shoes and becoming envious about the newest high-end designs that are just too expensive.  It’s amazing what influence shoes can have on the fashion industry – one celeb can wear one pair of shoes and change the face of fashion for years.  Here are a few of the fashion industries favorite shoe designers and the celebrities that have helped make them famous.

Christian Louboutin- Jennifter Lopez

Christian Louboutin designs seem to have had a surge in popularity in the past few years, thanks to the reintroduction of sky scraper heels into the fashion industry. The most famous Louboutins have to be the classic black ‘pump’ with red-lacquered soles. Christian Louboutin got his famous red soled shoes trademarked in 2007, which is more than likely why the shoe has become so popular with celebrities. Jennifer Lopez loves Louboutins so much she even released a song called ‘Louboutins’, and famously performed the song at the 2009 American Music Awards, wearing a pair of 10cm Louboutin heels while performing a rather grueling dance routine. Victoria Beckham is also a fan, frequently pictured wearing the iconic red and black pumps.

Manolo Blahnik- Sarah Jessica Parker

Any Sex and the City fan will know what a huge part fashion (and shoes in particular) has in the series and films.  The narrating character, Carrie totaled up all of her shoes and realized that she’d spent $40,000 on fancy footwear over the years.  It was clear that Carrie didn’t discriminate when it came to shoes. However her shoe of choice had to be Manolo Blahnik.  Carrie’s choices of shoes were always well documented, especially in the episode where her Manolo’s were stolen by a mugger down a side street. After this episode, ‘Manolo’s’ became a household name and an obsession of many females.  Manolo Blahnik was the first designer to have a celebratory exhibition at the Design Museum and still continues to design new and inspirational footwear for women after 40 years in the business.  The Manolo brand was also featured in the recent film The Devil Wears Prada.

Alexander McQueen- Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga’s sense of style needs no introduction.  She’s definitely out there and girls all over the world imitate her style.  Along with the release of her ‘Bad Romance’ video the fashion world has been stirred with envy due to Gaga’s Alexander McQueen’s 10″ stiletto shoes.  There are several stand-out outfits in the video, all featuring an exquisite pair of heels in a variety of styles.  A few months after the video aired, it was announced that McQueen tragically committed suicide, which spurred on the interest of the shoes that Gaga had worn in the video.  McQueen’s designs have been worn by David Bowie, and more recently Rhianna.  His death was a shock to the fashion industry and his designs will never be forgotten.

Jimmy Choo – Princess Diana

Jimmy Choo is now a household name, thanks to the popularity of Choo’s designs and backing from the late Princess Diana, who helped launch his career into the main stream in the 1990′s.  Since then Jimmy Choo’s shoes have graced many a red carpet, as well as being mentioned on countless TV programmes and films, including Sex and the City.  The brand is known as being high-end and a staple for women who have a passion for beautiful and elegant shoes. Jimmy Choo won an OBE by the Queen for his contributions to the fashion industry.  Regular wearers of Jimmy Choo include Gwen Stefani, Penelope Cruz, Julia Roberts and Hilary Swank.

This post was written by Rachael Miller, who is part of the vouchers team at moneysupermarket.com