Christian Louboutin Claims Entitlement to a ‘Very Specific’ Red

While shoe lovers are celebrating 20 years of the well-known pump, designer Christian Louboutin is still in the midst of battling YSL over rights to his red-colored trademark soles. He emphasized that he does not want rights to the color red, but he does express possession of the hue in a specific way.
He claims:

“… it is a red in a specific context [in the way that], there is Ferrari red [and] Hermès orange,” he told French newspaper Libération. “Even in the food industry, Cadbury recently won a lawsuit against Nestlé for using purple packaging. All this proves that the colours play a part in a brand’s identity. I’m not saying that red usually belongs to me – I repeat that this is about a precise red, used in a precise location.”

Louboutin makes a great case. Colors are very specific to brands, often being spotted as an indicator of the company before the name is ever seen. We love YSL, but we actually hope the French designer prevails. Even though he may not have been the first to create a red sole, he paired it with his work and popularized it unlike any other designer. Besides, our favorite Vixens rock this footwork most often, right? He deserves authority over the color for that alone.