Revolutionary shoe designer Christian Louboutin has made his mark in the women shoe world. No Duh?! Grabbing the hearts and wallets of many women who love some high, high heels…ahem, cough cough, that have red soles. Well, now Louboutin is attempting to take a chunk out of Yves Saint Laurent’s bank account by suing for releasing that red suede pump of theirs with matching red soles – a trademark of Louboutin – back in April of this year.
Louboutin was outraged when he discovered that another high-end shoe designer would have the nerve to was use his RED bottoms that he had trademarked (hearsay).
The US District Judge Victor Marrero of New York rejected Louboutin’s request to stop the sales of YSL’s shoes during the case.
The judge also went on to question the legitimacy of Christian’s trademark of 3 years on the red sole shoes. Further so, Judge Marrero stated,
“Awarding one participant in the designer shoe market a monopoly on the color red would impermissibly hinder competition among other participants,”
…and he also wrote,
Louboutin’s claim raises the specter of fashion wars. If Louboutin owns Chinese Red for the outsole of high fashion women’s shoes, another designer can just as well stake out a claim for exclusive use of another shade of red, or indeed even Louboutin’s color, for the insole, while yet another could, like the world colonizers of eras past dividing conquered territories and markets, plant its flag on the entire heel for its Chinese Red.
And the lawyer for YSL was quite pleased to hear so, saying,
No designer should be able to monopolize a color in fashion…
…and that his clients look forward to continuing to manufacture red soled shoes, which they have been doing since the 1970s. They have?
Okay, I can completely sympathize with YSL and I actually agree with the Judge’s opinion on this situation; however, I do expect those die hard Louboutin fans to be pretty outraged at the fact that other designers are very possibly going to hop on board of this and start putting red bottom wedges and platforms out on their shelves. Hello, TAR-GAAHY (Target)!
Until the decision is made, I’m sure we will be getting plenty of outrageous remarks from Mr. Louboutin himself. Like stating that his heels can possibly be orgasmic for women.
No really, he did say so. Louboutin met with a french student and came to the conclusion that
“She said that what is sexual in a high heel is the arch of the foot, because it is exactly the position of a woman’s foot when she orgasms. So putting yourself in a heel, you are putting yourself in a possibly orgasmic situation.”
…Okay. Awkward Christian! I don’t think many women would feel comfortable being sexually aroused while at Starbucks on their coffee break. But then again, if he’s selling 600,000 shoes, then maybe there’s another reason why women are so addicted to buying these outrageously priced shoes. Or, more likely this could simply be a sales tactic for the designer to increase his bank account and keep himself in the media. How do you even think of that?
So until the decision is finalized, which we will report to you in the near future, where do you stand? Are you on Team YSL or Team Louboutin? Tweet us at @nubry and hash tag #TeamYSL or #TeamLouboutin!
Tricia Cromwell
#teamlouboutin all day!
Britt Hackmann
and Stephano, why did you have to go there…i mean now you have opened the doors for Louboutin to make the Tribute or Tribtoo with a red sole. That sound amazing!…or does it sound like two designers mixed into a shoe found on canal st.
Britt Hackmann
im on #TeamLouboutin ~ Tiffany blue wouldnt be used by another jewelry designer. Lets hope Christian Louboutin doesnt start orgasmic testimonials.