I’m an eye-candy enthusiast,a sucker for shoes and I could possibly run a marathon in 5-inch heels. That being said, I melt over Christian Louboutin shoes. So expensive, yet so delicious. In light of how ridiculously popular Louboutins have become over the years, I find the whole legal debate over the famous red soles highly entertaining.
To make a long story short, Christian Louboutin got his fancy french panties in a knot when he discovered YSL unveiled shoes with a red sole. (They’ve also done blue: see pic above). The whole thing went to court and appeals are still flying. It seems Louboutin’s trademark red soles are no longer. Why such insanity, you ask? Well, you can’t own a primary color. Gee, really? Does this shock anyone? What’s funny is how incredibly long he got to ride the ruby wave until someone was like, “Wait a minute! He can’t trademark the color red! Why aren’t we making shoes with red soles? Let’s make some. Francoise, fetch me my diamond-studded sketching pencil.”
I think Christian needs to launch an entirely new collection with a really bizarre color for the soles like puce or amber or neon green. Then he can re-establish his notoriety and nobody else will want those colors. Right now all of the REAL Louboutins are almost obsolete because EVERYONE and their orthopedic-shoe-wearing GRANDMAS will be with red soles. All of the women who have spent a gazillion dollars on Louboutins will instantly be among kabillions of knock-offs. Shhh, if you listen closely you can hear the sound of a status symbol crashing. How quickly before the shelves at Goodwill will be overflowing with tear-stained Louboutin pumps? That remains to be seen.
Judge Marrero upheld YSL’s rights to manufacture and sell red-soled shoes and repeatedly asserted that red is a decorative element rather than a trademark-worthy feature: “There is something different about fashion. In fashion, color is an ingredient,” the judge said, musing that designers use color just as a chef uses “salt and pepper,” or a writer uses the word “the.” How much do you love this judge? I love him a lot.