How shoe designer Christian Louboutin's signature red soles became a must have, a trademark and finally a law suit.
Ask any fashionista about Christian Louboutin, and the first thing they will remark upon are the signature red soles the French cobbler has made his trademark.
The story goes that Louboutin came up with the idea of giving all his
designs a distinctive red, gloss sole in 1992 after painting red nail
polish onto the bottom of a pair of shoes, because he felt the shoes
"lacked energy". And so, a legend was born and in no time, flashing a
red sole became a badge of honour for the fashion pack and Hollywood
stars alike.
Like so many labels, it was Carrie Bradshaw, Sex & The City's
shoe-obsessed heroine, who made Louboutin a household name, with the
designer's New York store even featuring as the opening shot in the
first Sex & the City movie. Patricia Field, the franchise's costume
designer, was quick to key into the brand's lust-worthy credentials, and
eventually Louboutin matched Manolo Blahnik as the object of Carrie's
desires, and, ergo, the desires of the legion of female fans of the
show.
You can count on one hand the famous ladies who don't own a pair of
Louboutin's iconic red-soled heels. How do we know that? Because they
are, perhaps, the most instantly recognisable fashion accessory of all
time, so much so, Louboutin even trademarked the 'Red Sole' feature in
2008.
So it's no surprise he has taken a hard line against fellow Gallic
mega-brand Yves Saint Laurent, who Louboutin feels have unfairly copied
his trademark.
Yves Saint Laurent's spring 2011 collection features a pair of red
suede shoes with matching red soles, which have prompted Louboutin to
file court papers in New York suing them. The collection also features
purple shoes with purple soles, navy with navy soles and green with
green soles, but it's the red soles that have sparked the legal action.
Court papers state 'The defendants use of red footwear outsoles that
are virtually identical to plaintiff's Red Sole Mark is likely to cause
and is causing confusion, mistake and deception among the relevant
purchasing public as to the origin of the infringing footwear.'
Could, or should anyone but Louboutin ever make red-soled shoes
again? Can you really own a colour? These are the issues that will, no
doubt, be hard fought in the New York courts. But the outcome is moot.
Louboutin's brand identity is so strong, anyone seeing those Yves Saint
Laurent shoes on, would assume they were Louboutin's anyway.
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