Shoes strewn around a courtroom, a judge with a sense of humor, two angry designers and an undetermined amount of money on the line. It sounds like a really strange episode of Law & Order, but it’s just the scene of a preliminary injunction hearing between YSL and Christian Louboutin over a wayward red sole on a red shoe in the former’s Cruise collection.
WWD reports: “Sitting pensively, Marrero, of New York’s Southern District, looked at one of the many red designer shoes that the attorneys hauled out as evidence, before proclaiming that he’d take more time to review the case before deciding. ‘Nice shoes,’ he said with a smile, as he exited the courtroom, injecting some levity into a tense atmosphere, after both sides passionately argued their case.” I mean, is John Grisham over at WWD today? This is straight courtroom literature.
For the defense, we have attorney David Bernstein of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, who claims that YSL has been using a red sole since ’62. Oh, and Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz rocked them also. Sounds like a real life Matlock. For the prosecution, Harley Lewin of McCarter & English LLP fears for the slippery slope of red soled knockoffs that would result from a loss in the case.
Either way, no decisions have been made yet, and Lewin is saying, “I think it’s a draw,” per WWD, but someone better get R.J. Cutler in there ASAP to start documenting this mess.
