Yves Saint Laurent are vehemently denying accusations by Christian Louboutin that they copied his trademark red soles.
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Sexy Strass 100 Swarovski crystal peep-toe pumps £1,995 |
Oh dear, what a curfuffle.. don't designers always copy each other and then the high street follows.. I know a lot of the high end stores stock both brands but live and let live and all that..I think it's all a bit silly but why didn't YSL just create an electric blue sole, that would of had the fashion crowd salvating with all the colour blocking and brights this season..
YSL have come back with the retort:
"Red outsoles are a commonly used ornamental design feature in footwear, dating as far back as the red shoes worn by King Louis XIV in the 1600s and the ruby red shoes that carried Dorothy home in The Wizard of Oz," court papers filed by YSL read. "As an industry leader who has devoted his entire professional life to women's footwear, Mr Louboutin either knew or should have known about some or all of the dozens of footwear models that rendered his sworn statement false."
In a lawsuit launched last month in New York, Louboutin is seeking damages of $1 million, which amounts to roughly 500 pairs of the Sexy Strass 100 Swarovski crystal peep-toe pumps above, ( give a crystal or two)
from YSL which - Louboutin claims - has copied his signature coloured sole on "virtually identical" shoes.
Apparently the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded Louboutin a trademark for the red sole in 2008, according to the complaint but if that's the case how are countless high street shoe shops producing and selling bright red soled shoes? I'm sure it's not because this is a points scoring exercise is it? Well, who knows? Who cares.. At the end of the day they're all going to go back to their gorgeous houses in their gorgeous shoes and probably toast each others ridiculously over-priced but free cocktails at some industry do or another.
