Friday 22 July 2011

Christian Louboutin Sicks a Private Investigator on Dior.

We think the design of a shoe should speak for itself, much more than the color of its soles. But Christian Louboutin has territory issues and a word to the wise, the red sole is his. His you hear! Louboutin's lawsuit against YSL for creating a red shoe with a red sole is ongoing, but it sounds like the designer's issues with copycats stem far deeper than we had originally thought.

Court papers filed on Tuesday show Louboutin got information from a private investigator who said Christian Dior was planning to launch a red-soled shoe collection next season. The PI was hired to find information on the YSL case, but instead found information about Dior. Louboutin will not press charges against Dior, and Dior denies the claims.

The case against YSL presses on, with remarks from both sides getting snippier by the second. YSL says:

Louboutin’s trademark should have never been granted...We just don’t think that any fashion designer should be able to monopolize any color.


While Louboutin's team shot back and said the claim was "utter rubbish" and "unless you are living in a cave" the consumer recognizes a red sole as a Louboutin. But don't worry, Louboutin doesn't claim to own every red under the sun. Louboutin's lawyer Harley Lewin said:

We are not claiming to own every red under the sun. There’s a particular red that Christian uses on his shoes, a bright, lacquered red. We aren’t saying burgundy or orange-red, we aren’t saying pink. We don’t own any other red but that red.


The case will be decided on Friday by New York judge Victor Marrero.

Source: WWD

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