2010-04-08 Intellectual Property Inanity and Red Heels

Source: Reuters
Credits: Basil Katz (Reporting), Ellen Wulfhorst (Editing), Jerry Norton (Editing)
Dated: 2011-04-08

[ Emilie says : The fashion industry has been largely immune to the intellectual property insanity overtaking so many other areas of life, largely because it has generally accepted that all fashion is inspired both by the past and by current events including the ideas of other designers. Here is what happens when this is forgotten. By the way, Christian Louboutin is completely wrong in his claims. For why, see the next column. I knew this as soon as I read the articles about these cases, because Georgette Heyer, who was extremely knowledgeable about restoration period fashion mentioned the red heels of the Versailles court. Note that not only were red heels used in the past, but that Louboutin once acknowledged that his were inspired by "flashy cabaret girls." Proving once again that the US will allow people to trademark anything, and that the wrongheadedness of "Intellectual Property" can drive anyone to madness, even inspired shoe designers. Perhaps some flashy caberet girls should consider suing Louboutin if his suit prevails. ]

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 colour 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 (610,426 pounds) 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.

Source: The Fashion Historian
Credits: Katy
Dated: 2010-11-09

[ Emilie says : Katy writes one of the nicest fashion blogs, impecably researched and always exhibiting perfect taste and a wonderful sense and knowledge of art (but I wish she would provide the sources/credits for the images she uses), even if she seldom mentions current fashion.]

When Louis XIV came to the throne at the age of four in 1643, French kings had already begun the process of turning France into an absolutist state where the monarch was the absolute authority, his power coming from divine right. Throughout Louis' reign he continued transforming France, especially focusing on reigning in the aristocracy. Traditionally, the aristocracy held a great deal of power, and because France was such a vast territory they were not easily monitored. Aristocrats ruled over their lands like unofficial Kings, thus threatening the power of the actual monarch himself. Louis had several methods for dealing with the aristocracy, giving them privilege but not power. He moved the royal court to the palace at Versailles, and the aristocracy was constantly at court, vying for his royal favor and subsequently staying under his watchful eye.

A perfect example of this system of monitoring the aristocracy is red heels on shoes. Louis declared that only those in the royal favor were allowed the privilege of having red heels on their shoes, allowing everyone to show off when they were in favor. Red heels was like sitting at the popular kids table in school, only the very coolest kids could wear them.

Louis XIV, painted by Hyacinthe Rigaud in 1701.
Suddenly, if you fell out of the royal favor, everyone would know. It's bad enough to be out of the royal favor, it's even worse when you have to advertise it to the world. It was the perfect method for controlling a once unruly upper class. Aristocrats behaved themselves and they didn't have to face the shame of not having red heels on their shoes.


Louis XIV and his family, c. 1715-1720
Notice Louis' grandson, dressed in red and standing to the right. While Louis and his son (standing to the left) are wearing red heels on their shoes, his grandson is not, signaling that he was out of favor around the time this picture was created.

The connection between red heels and the monarchy lasted well past Louis XIV. In 1780 a pamphlet attacking Marie Antoinette was released, entitled Portefeuille d'un talon rouge (the wallet of a red heel). Red heels had become just one more symbol of the absolutist system that was beginning to tear the country apart.

Shoes by Christian Louboutin
Here are some fierce Christian Louboutin shoes. All Louboutin shoes have the inside of the heels and the sole painted red, perhaps a nod to the flashy cabaret girls that originally inspired the designer. For me, I always connect these modern red heels with Louis XIV. After all, wearing a pair of Louboutin shoes expresses the same ideals as wearing red heels in the 17th and 18th centuries- wealth, privilege, and a place in the choicest of social circles.