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FASHION & CONSUMER DEMAND
36
WORLD FOOTWEAR | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012
Christian Louboutin’s recent legal victory in
protecting his signature red sole was an
important first for the fashion industry.
It cements the idea that branding can be
defined through more than just words or
logos, and that the message it conveys
dictates the price people are willing to pay.
It also highlights bigger questions for the
industry: what constitutes a brand, and
is it right to trademark a colour?
The real message
communicated by
those red soles
T
he ‘golden arches’, the ‘swoosh’, the three stripes –
there are plenty of designs that we associate with
brands and companies before we've seen their name.
Some are subtler still – think of the shape of a VW
Beetle or a lego brick; neither need a logo to tell us which
company they belong to.
And so it is with the Louboutin red sole. Many people who
know relatively little about fashion could recognise the
significance on a high-heeled shoe, even if they could not name
the designer. The feature that has been a signature of the French
shoe company for almost 20 years was recently deemed so
intrinsically linked to the brand that a court declared it could not
be used by any other company. It signified an important first for
the fashion industry as it was effect ively saying that a colour
could be trademarked.
Seeing red
Christian Louboutin, the designer and powerhouse behind
the brand, originally took umbrage with French fashion house
YSL in 2010 when it produced a red shoe with a red sole – a
design Mr Louboutin said was “virtually identical” to his own. He
sought a court injunction against the sale of the shoes and
damages of $1 million.
The first court that heard the trial in France ruled in favour of
YSL – that it had not infringed any trademarks with its red
monochrome shoe, and that you could not, in fact, ‘own’ a
colour within the fashion industry.
Unsatisfied, Mr Louboutin took the case to the court of
appeals, which overturned the decision at the beginning of
Some of the most famous women favour Louboutin’s heels.
Singer Rihanna, stepping out in his thigh-high boots, is among
the many celebrities he has created bespoke footwear for.