Please, Please Let Trump Get Sued By Christian Louboutin Over His Hideous Shoes

This might not be a good way to raise money to pay his fraud judgment, we are just saying.

Feb 20, 2024

I wasn’t really going to weigh in on Trump’s “Never Surrender” golden sneakers, largely because gold lamé sneakers in the year of our Lord 2024 are actually just kind of a big yawn. It’s London Fashion week, people — I am far too busy gagging over Simone Rocha, thank you very much.

However! I was apparently not looking closely enough at them, because those who did caught something pretty interesting — a red sole.

Yes, the bottoms of his Trump sneakers are red. If you could give two shits about fashion — which I’m sure some of you will be very excited to remind me — you probably have no idea why this is any kind of … anything. But it is, and it could potentially get him sued, again, as TikToker Landon Reid helpfully pointed out yesterday.

@and_mayhem_ensued_#DonaldTrump #TrumpSneakers #SneakerHead #RedBottoms #Trademark #ChristianLouboutin #CopyrightInfringement #Copyright

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You see, French designer Christian Louboutin has trademarked red-soled shoes. This isn’t some weird thing like when Rihanna tried to trademark the name Robyn (love her, but rude), it actually makes a lot of sense. If you see red soles and you have at least a minimal knowledge of fashion or if you just watched an episode Sex and The City at some point, you’re going to assume that they are Louboutins.

Christian Louboutin Duvette Spikes, $1,095.00, and for anyone wondering, I am a size 8.5

It’s so famously associated with the brand that they successfully sued Yves Saint Laurent when they came out with their own red-soled shoe back in 2011.

Louboutin officially trademarked the soles in 2008, specifically for “women’s high fashion designer footwear,” and in the YSL case, the judge limited the trademark to a “red lacquered outsole” that contrasts with the rest of the shoe — so another black heel with a red bottom would count as a trademark infringement, but a red shoe with a red bottom would not.

However! As an article at The Fashion Law argues, Louboutin could still have a case, even if they are not “women’s high fashion designer footwear” with a “red lacquered sole.” Louboutin also makes shoes for men, including sneakers, that also have the same red sole. Their lawyers could claim that Trump putting a red sole on his sneakers would confuse customers and lead them to erroneously believe that Louboutin is associated with Trump or with the production of the shoe in some way. This wouldn’t just dilute the brand, it would actively harm it — both because it is a very ugly shoe and because Trump is an awful person.

The sneakers are also, at $399, a lot cheaper than Louboutins. Given Trump’s past forays in to fashion, we’re going to guess they’re more cheaply made as well.

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This is not the Trump family’s first run-in with alleged shoe design thievery, as Italian brand Aquazzura once sued Ivanka for stealing one of their designs — but it’s definitely the most blatant.

Trump came out with these shoes very shortly after his $355 million civil fraud judgment in New York, so potentially he could use the proceeds to help pay that bill off. (A very small amount of help, since they reportedly are only making 1,000 pairs. One-thousand times $399, minus costs, is … NOPE.) Wouldn’t it be funny if this got him sued too?

Clearly, everything is going really well for him!

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