Friday 19 August 2011

Louboutin Vs YSL

As soon as you see a red sole on a well-designed heel you automatically think Louboutin, right? Well that may not be the case anymore. YSL has breached its copyright by copying the red soles that Louboutin are so well known for and are therefore being sued.
"Mr. Louboutin is the first designer to develop the idea of having red soles on women's shoes," the lawsuit said. "The defendants' use of red footwear outsoles that are virtually identical to the plaintiffs' Red Sole Mark is likely to cause and is causing confusion, mistake and deception among the relevant purchasing public."
Louboutin’s red sole is its trademark and apparently asked YSL to not use the red soles back in January, but YSL did not respond and are now being asked to halt all production of the iconic soles.
However, this isnt the first time Mr Louboutin has had to take legal action against copyrights as in 2007 Oh Deer! were sued for using the famous soles. You think YSL would have done their homework and thought twice about copying the company.
Although, YSL bit back by saying: "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. 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."
This leads it to be unlikely that Louboutin will win the case. However both sides are offering as much evidence as possible and is still ongoing. I myself think that Louboutin should win, I know they don’t have “the monopoly on the colour” as YSL claimed but the red sole is an iconic gem within the fashion industry and I thought fashion was about not only expressing yourself but individuality? So why copy someone else’s design?

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