Christian Louboutin sues YSL
A pair of red-soled Christian Louboutin heels.
French shoe designer Christian Louboutin has made the vibrant red sole of his much coveted heels his trademark, and he obviously wants it to stay that way. He’s filed a lawsuit against Yves Saint Laurent in an attempt to stop them selling red-soled footwear.
According to court papers released in New York yesterday, the French cobbler first asked the American arm of luxury label Yves Saint Laurent back in January to stop selling red-soled heels in the same Manhattan shops as he does.
But they didn’t, so the trademark infringement lawsuit that he filed has asked the judge to impose $1m in damages and order fellow French super-brand YSL to stop manufacturing similar designs.
The suit said: “Mr Louboutin is the first designer to develop the idea of having red soles on women’s shoes. The red sole has become synonymous with Christian Louboutin and high fashion.”
The famous shoe designer trademarked the design in America in 2008, and rumour has it that his signature scarlet sole came about after he borrowed a colleague’s red nail varnish to lacquer the base of a shoe he was working on because it needed “a little something”.
The case continues.
