Posts Tagged ‘Yves Saint Laurent’

It’s the fashion eye-roll seen ’round the world: in April,Christian Louboutin, one of fashion’s most iconic shoemakers, filed a lawsuit against fashion house Yves Saint Laurent for manufacturing shoes with Louboutin-style red soles. Louboutin trademarked his red varnished heels back in 2008 and is seeking $1 million in damages (which we calculated to be the equivalent of 250 pairs of Louboutin shoes).

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 fradulent in his trademark application claim that he had ‘exclusive’ use of the red sole:

“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.”

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.

Via HuffingtonPost.com / Images by David Lynch

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.

Kimora Lee Simmons arrived to LAX airport in Los Angeles yesterday April 1, 2011 styled in several different designer brands. She was spotted in a pair of Yves Saint Laurent 6236 sunglasses an Alexander McQueen skull print scarf, a pair of denim studded Christian Louboutin Pigalle spiked denim pumps and she was carrying a cobalt blue Hermes Birkin.

Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen attend the Metropolitan Opera’s gala premiere of Rossini’s Le Comte Oryv sponsored by Yves Saint Laurent on Thursday (March 24) in New York City.

The two were dressed head to toe by Yves Saint Laurent for the occasion and are both carrying the Yves Saint Laurent Minaudiere satin clutch.

Image – TheVogueDiaries.com

Katharine McPhee was spotted last week as she was getting ready to autograph copies of her new album titled Had It all. This newly-blond bombshell was looking pretty stylish for the occasion. Her outfit consisted of a black mini dress worn over opaque black tights and a black leather motorcycle jacket. But wait, are those brown boots she’s wearing with her all-black outfit? I have said this before, but I will say it again… Neat! I am really loving this brown paired with black trend. It has such a refreshing feeling to it! But what’s even more enticing about Ms. McPhee’s ensemble is her lovely handbag. It looks to be the Yves Saint Laurent Muse in Black Patent. Wow! Now that’s hot! And it looks especially nice with her black leather motorcycle jacket, giving her overall look a nice balance between tough girl and professional chic.

It’s Heidi Montag again and she seems to know how to make almost any designer bag look obnoxious. This is so unfortunate. Another thing that is unfortunate has to be the fact that Heidi and her overly annoying husband, Spencer Pratt continue to be spotted coming and going from talk shows.

Here the dynamic duo (and I use that term with complete sarcasm) was photographed visiting It’s on with Alexa Chung in NYC. Once again, Heidi is carrying her beloved Yves Saint Laurent Y Tote. We’ve seen her carry this bag several times before, but the more she carries it, the more I start to dislike it. Even more along the lines of dislike, that furry vest she has on. I am sure it actually might not look that bad on someone else, but I can’t stand it on Heidi.

Article: bagthatstyle.com/Images: okmagazine.com

Ashley Tisdale  was spotted leaving Byron and Tracey Salon in Beverly Hills yesterday November 20 looking adorable. She wascarrying a black leather Yves Saint Laurent Muse Handbag  and wearing black Converse All Star High Tops.

So long, heels! Suri Cruise has moved on to teddy bears and adorable ladybug wellies, while mama Katie Holmes has moved on to a lovely black Yves Saint Laurent Besace Flap Bag. Besides being ridiculously chic, the YSL purse is a great and surprisingly practical handbag for a busy mom like Katie – it goes with nearly everything and isn’t overly fussy like some status bags. And don’t you just love that textured leather?

Photo from JustJared.buzznet.com

I know the black leather PVC bra and pencil skirt seem pretty wild, but considering that last week Lady Gaga rolled up to the airport in vampire fangs and a thong leotard, it’s actually downright tame. And you’ve got to give the gal points for coordination, pairing her black PVC with a matching houndstooth scarf and a very bad-ass Yves Saint Laurent Y-Rock studded handbag. Dare I say I dig the look? Well…I’ll just confess to adoring that rock ‘n’ roll bag.

Photo from INFDaily.com.

No, Nelson isn’t forming a reunion tour. That’s just Lindsay Lohan waving her bleached blonde locks around. I’d rather focus on her fab purple Yves Saint Laurent Muse handbag, which does her more justice than that peroxide ‘do. The color is fun, the purse is a classic, and it’s a nice luxe contrast to her low-key tank and cutoffs.

Photo from PopSugar.com.