Pilati Leaves YSL...

It was reported by WWD on Saturday that YSL Creative Director Stefano Pilati was to be succeeded by Hedi Slimane after his contract expires next month.

This morning rumours were confirmed that Pilati is leaving the brand he has worked for for more than a decade, yet no confirmation has been made as to who is to replace him or where he is headed.

The news follows last weeks headlines that Raf Simons is set to leave Jil Sander and that he was headed to the brand, despite PPR officially dismissing these rumours in September.

With the the post for Creative Director at Dior still vacant and Jil Sander returning to her eponymous label, there is set to be a big shake up with two of PPR's biggest labels over the coming year.

The Fight Continues

It is a fight that has been going on since the beginning of last summer yet the Christian Louboutin V YSL court case looks likely to continue for a little while longer yet.

In October a judge ruled not to uphold Louboutins' proposed injunction that stopped Yves Saint Laurent from producing the red soled shoes, to which Louboutin filed an appeal.  Jewellery company Tiffany then weighed in on behalf of Louboutin stating that a colour can be trademarked and shouldn't be allowed to be copied (they too are known by a distinctive colour).  Then in December, YSL filed an appellate brief stating that the decision not to grant the injunction should be upheld as Louboutin could not prove that YSL's use of the colour caused irreparable damage to their brand.

Got all that? (a bit much we know) Yesterday Christian Louboutin himself appeared at court with designer Diane Von Furstenburg at his side for support whilst his lawyers made their final plea before the three appeals court judges make their decision.  Louboutin himself stated 'For YSL and the PPR Group, this might be just a legal matter, but that's not the case for me.  To me it is very personal, after all, this is an intrinsic part of my life and my company - which bears my name'

Personally, we agree, the red sole is synonymous with Louboutins' name, and since the case I have already seen a variety of imitations of the red sole in stores from New Look to River Island and worse.  If YSL were to win this case it would effectively dismantle everything which the Louboutin brand stands for as it's USP would be gone.

Let's hope the judges make the right decision.

YSL's New Scent

With Emily Blunt being named as the face of YSL's Opium fragrance earlier this year, I know I'm not the only one who has been anxiously waiting for the video which was rumoured to feature a cheetah!  Finally the video is hear and for once the rumours aren't completely wrong, the ad actually starred not only Emily but a real life Leopard.

Advent Calender Wishlist: Day Three

Onto beauty for the third item of my wishlist.  I'm not one for dramatic make up, preferring to look natural.  On a weekend I'll add some smokey eye makeup or lipstick but during the week I prefer to keep my make up as bare as possible.  I couldn't live without my Armani Face Fabric or my Touche Eclat, but one item I've discovered this year that makes me wonder how I lived without it is this Tom Ford Brow Sculptor.

If heaven was an eyebrow pencil, ladies, this would be it.  A little more expensive than a usual make up item admittedly, but definitely worth it.

Christian and Tiffany

Tiffany & Co have today come to the aid of luxury shoe designer Christian Louboutin after it emerged last week that the footwear brand had launched an appeal after a judge rejected their injunction request to stop YSL releasing red soled shoes.

The argument falls leads back to YSL's decision to release shoes with the same colour sole that has made Louboutin's brand famous throughout the world after saying that the release of the former shoe would be damaging to his brand and that he had a trademark on the design.

Judge rejects Louboutins injunction request

After the judge rejected this injunction it was expected that a company such as Tiffany & Co would be bought into the mix as they too are associated the world over with another colour.  The American Jewellery and Silverware company filed their own brief stating that colours can be trademarked and shouldn't be allowed to be copied.

A decision is expected early in the spring 'considering what is at stake'

Paris Fashion Week

All too soon we're onto the final Fashion Week of 2011, and the one that holds arguably the most well repected brands in the industry, from Chanel and Balenciaga to Celine and YSL, it certainly is a case of last but not least here.

With Kanye West having been confirmed to show his debut collection after collaborations with the likes of Louis Vuitton and Nike, Dior still not confirming who the are replacing Galliano with (Erdem has now been thrown into the mix that previously contained Alber Elbaz, Alaia and hot favourite Marc Jacobs) and the first McQueen collection since designer Sarah Burton designed that wedding dress, this is certainly going to be a week that makes headlines.

The shows I'm most excited to see are:

Wednesday 28th
Limi Feu - 14.00
Rochas - 17.00

Thursday 29th
Balenciaga - 10.00
Balmain - 15.00

Friday 30th
Roland Mouret - 09.00
Lanvin 17.30

Saturday 1st
Viktor & Rolf - 13.30
Kanye West - 21.30

Sunday 2nd
Hermes - 14.00
Givenchy - 20.00


Monday 3rd
Emmanuel Ungaro - 11.00
Vanessa Bruno - 18.00
Yves Saint Laurent - 19.30

Tuesday 4th
Chanel - 10.30
Paul & Joe - 16.30
Alexander McQueen - 19.30

Wednesday 5th
Louis Vuitton - 10.00
Miu Miu - 14.00

YSL All The Trouble?

In April it was announced that Christian Louboutin had filed a Trademark Infringement Lawsuit against Yves Saint Laurent after YSL put red soles on their shoes, allegedly breaching copyright.

Louboutin himself told the Evening Standard in mid - April "I have the biggest respect for the house of Yves Saint Laurent, having discussed the matter with them and not been able to reach an agreement, we have had to take this to court. My company has a trademark on the red sole and if we don't enforce it this would leave the door open for other brands to copy us while jeopardising the identity of the Louboutin red sole. No one before me has ever used a coloured sole to define a brand's identity. The red sole has become widely recognised as the distinct sign of my brand in the eyes of women all over the world."

The company were seeking damages of $1 million after YSL began production of their own red soled shoes stating that the YSL sole was 'virtually identical to that of the Louboutin one.

YSL hit back at this statement in court by saying "Red outsoles are a commonly used ornamental design feature in footwear, dating as far back as the red shoes worn by King Louis XIV in the 1600s, as an industry leader who has devoted his entire professional life to women's footwear, Mr Louboutin either knew or should have known about some or all of the dozens of footwear models that rendered his sworn statement false."  To which the members of the courtroom laughed.

The Judge who has considering this case has today come to a decision stating that Louboutin was not 'able to prove that the red outsole brand is entitled to trade protection'.


Whats the betting that New Look and River Island start selling red soled shoes and forever ruining the Louboutin brand??