Saturday, August 6, 2011

Hey! That's my red.


So Christian Louboutin is currently seeking an injunction to stop Yves Saint Laurent from designing their Spring/Summer 2011-12 Cruise collection with a red sole. How exciting!

Obviously, as far as the red sole space goes, Christian Louboutin absolutely and completely owns that branding space....and has done for years. Girls, have you ever seen a red-soled shoe and assumed it was YSL? That red sole is the symbol of quality, style, and glamour from Christian Louboutin.

I agree that anyone can have a red-soled shoe and historically, Christian Louboutin is not the first house to come up with a red sole; but it is so famously the branding of Christian Louboutin that why would YSL want to allow anyone confuse their product with another luxury brand? YSL shoes, in my opinion, have more elegance and grace and can stand on their own two heels. 

YSL have submitted documents to show they've been designing red-soled shoes since 2004. A judge found these documents inadmissible, however. Whatever the solution to this branding disagreement, I hope it ends with more innovation from YSL. Stefano Pilati is the brilliant and major force of creative design at the head at YSL. This is a house that has both the financial and human capital to come up with design that blows us away on the runway. I want to see YSL design and surprise, not cut, paste, and repeat. This is why I watch high fashion with admiration; it opens my mind, sparks my imagination and entertains me.

Red is not the only colour.

Christian Louboutin Bibi 140 Suede Platform Pumps

Yves Saint Laurent High Heel Pump, Electric Blue Suede

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