Monday, April 29, 2013

Fashion Scandal



So breaking away a little from the norm of marketing strategies. I found an interesting article (a little dated, but still relevant) about the fight Louboutin is battling.The article, that can be found here: and brings up the question, can color be trademarked?
Anyone in the fashion industry can easily spot out a designer pair of Louboutin's because of the classic red sole. Apparently Yves Saint Laurent liked what they were doing and they too, decided to try out the red-soled design. However, Louboutin was unsuccessful in their first attempts to stop YSL from selling these shows claiming their federally Red Mark Sole and continue to fight this trademark law.

An argument that can be made is that the Supreme Court has previously held that color alone can be a trademark, as long as the color is an identifier of the product with no other function. This could then turn into a brand equity and brand reputation war. A current Congressional bill is in the works for fashion copyright protection but until then it is still unprotected.

So until then Christian Louboutin and his company must fight off the competition while still rockin their high heeled stilettos. The true Louboutin Lovers will not be mistaken by a knock off brand.  

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