Christian Louboutin, YSL Suit Dismissed

Christian Louboutin

After 18 months of legal wrangling a Manhattan federal district court entered a final order Thursday 27 December, confirming that Christian Louboutin has no further claims against Yves Saint Laurent over red monochrome shoes and dismissing the lawsuit.

You may remember from our initial posts, Louboutin Tries To Stop Dior From Making Red-Soled Shoes(July), then our follow on story, Christian Louboutin loses round one of red sole battle with Yves Saint Laurent (August) it seemed that the drama was going to continue with neither side giving in. 

It was once presumed in our UPDATE: Christian Louboutin Sues Yves Saint Laurent(July); Yves Saint Laurent may drop the case as the bad publicity that surrounded their action to inital make this attempt did them no favours within the industry. When YSL,  a month later, dropped its claims against Louboutin it came as no great surprise.

YSL Trib Too, left, and Louboutin Bambou

Earlier a New York federal appeals court in September backed the validity of Louboutin’s red-sole trademark but said the French shoemaker would only be able to protect its mark when it comes to red-soled shoes with contrasting uppers. That decision gave YSL the right to continue selling its monochrome red pump. The luxury giants squared up again and the case moved back to a New York federal district court for further evaluation of YSL’s counterclaims.

We can now report it has finally come to an official end with Thursday’s court order merely confirms closure of the litigation between the parties.

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Yves Saint Laurent ‘Muse Two Artisanal Recycled’ Bag

Provided
by Yves Saint Laurent 

Produced in a limited edition of sixty, with each piece unique, the ‘Muse Two Artisanal Recycled’ bag marries the savoir-faire of Yves Saint Laurent leather goods with the artisanal handiwork of women from Burkina Faso. The women of the Gafreh Association, with support from ‘Les Filles du Facteur’ – a non-profit organization that aims to realize, promote and sustain the social, cultural and artistic values akin to women and children who face difficulty around the world – have developed a unique technique to create a textile composed of recycled plastic bags and woven cotton, which, procured at fair trade exclusively by Yves Saint Laurent, has been fashioned into an edition of the house’s iconic ‘Muse Two’ bag.

Yves Saint Laurent ‘Muse Two Artisanal Recycled’ Bag

With this Yves Saint Laurent further emphasizes its commitment to innovation in design and particularly to corporate social responsibility, demonstrated in the initiative’s alliance with a non-profit women’s organization and its use of recycled materials. Along with Creative Director Stefano Pilati’s annual ‘Edition New Vintage’, an environmentally conscious capsule of ready-to-wear and accessories, and the house’s ongoing support of UN Women, The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, a clear program of support emerges for public awareness of sustainable development and design on the one hand, and critical women’s issues on the other.

The limited edition ‘Muse Two Artisanal Recycled’ will be available online at ysl.com in The United Kingdom and The United States from April, 2011 and selected Yves Saint Laurent flagship boutiques worldwide

For luxury accessories visit Delortae Agency Luxury Authentic Resource Portal

UPDATE: Christian Louboutin Sues Yves Saint Laurent

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Paris-based designer Christian Louboutin, whose pumps have graced many fabulous and famous feet, sued fashion rival Yves Saint Laurent over the use of the color red on shoe soles.

“Mr. Louboutin is the first designer to develop the idea of having red soles on women’s shoes,” said the trademark infringement lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court on Thursday.

Since January, Louboutin said in the suit, he has asked luxury company Yves Saint Laurent America, a subsidiary of the Gucci Group, to stop selling red-soled shoes in the same select Manhattan stores as he does.

“Defendants’ use of red footwear outsoles that are virtually identical to plaintiffs’ Red Sole Mark is likely to cause and is causing confusion, mistake and deception among the relevant purchasing public,” the suit said.

The suit asks for a U.S. judge to impose $1 million in damages and order YSL to stop manufacturing similar designs.

The Gucci Group was not available for comment and the U.S. branch of Yves Saint Laurent declined comment on the lawsuit.

Since shortly after Louboutin founded his first boutique in 1991 in Paris, the suit said, all his shoes have had red-lacquered soles. They can fetch more than $1,000 a pair.

“The Red Sole has become synonymous with Christian Louboutin and high fashion,” it said, adding that Louboutin had trademarked the design in the United States in 2008.

YSL Issues Rebuttal In Louboutin ‘Red Soles’ Lawsuit

The most recent courtroom update involves an arguably snarky rebuttal from YSL, essentially pooh-poohing Louboutin’s claims. According to The Daily Mail, Louboutin claims to be “the first designer to develop the idea of having red soles on women’s shoes,” in spite of the fact that YSL has used scarlet soles on select shoe styles since the ’70s — long before Louboutin’s innovation in 1992.

Court papers filed by YSL state that “Louboutin was fraudulent in his trademark application claim that he had ‘exclusive’ use of the red sole:

“Red out-soles 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.”

Louboutin also went head-to-head, or heel-to-heel, with Brazilian shoemaker Carmen Steffens for producing shoes with his “signature” soles. In both lawsuits, Louboutin claims that the other designers’ red-soled shoes are being mistaken for those by Louboutin, creating a false identity for his company.

Renee Zellweger seen here wearing a pair of Louboutins in Milan

This looks as if it still is not over yet, as Louboutin sues Dior

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Yves Saint Laurent Sparks Debate By Launching Cigarettes

“The woman who smokes Yves Saint Laurent cigarettes is more attractive than one who smokes another brand or doesn’t smoke at all“  claims the fashion house.

Yves Saint Laurent is taking its conception of “Le Smoking” seriously—and perhaps a tad too literally. When the French fashion house isn’t employing African artisans to cobble purses together from recycled plastic bags and fair-trade cotton, it’s also lending its moniker to a line of cigarettes. So much for social responsibility. Marketed to women in Asia and Russia, the smokes come in minimalist black boxes with gold foil. You don’t have to pony up for prestige pricing, either: On line retailers hawk the cancer sticks, which have been around since 1989, for up to £22 per 200-cigarette pack.

We all know the dangers of tobacco, the gaucheness of nicotine-stained teeth, or the idiocy of self-induced lung cancer and heart disease. The money pumped into the NHS aimed at preventing smokers from starting and assistance to stop, make it impossible for us not to know. For the less-informed, however, YSL offers a Faustian deal. Its cigarettes, according to the luxury label, creates a “sense of appeal to female vanity and thereby making the woman who chose to smoke Yves Saint Laurent cigarettes more attractive than one who smokes another brand, or more attractive than a woman who did not smoke at all.

YSL showing how 'glamorous' smoking can look!

YSL isn’t the only high-end brand to market so-called “fashion cigarettes.” Other companies known to have dabbled in the practice include Givenchy, Versace, Pierre Cardin, Christian Lacroix, and Cartier. Ironically, in a 1968 interview, Saint Laurent himself admitted he didn’t smoke his eponymous cigarettes, claiming not to “like the flavour.”

With fashion targeting the younger market, Is this fashion or irresponsibility?.........