Ireland Teen Sells Stick-on Red Soles
Something tells us Christian Louboutin won’t be too happy about this. The celebrity-favorite footwear company is currently battling Yves Saint Laurent over the right to be the exclusive purveyor of red-soled shoes—and now, an Ireland teen is putting her own spin on the style.
Rosso Solini, 16-year-old Tara Haughton's company, sells stick-on soles for your shoes, in pink, blue, patterns—and of course, a decidedly Louboutin-esque shade of red.
The red sole appears to be the brand’s most popular style, “designed to turn heads and give you the designer look now,” the Rosso Solini Web site reads. A single sole pack (which includes a knife for trimming the stickers plus instructions) retails for $9.99, while a three-pack goes for $22.
"I look at it like this," Haughton told FashionEtc. "[Louboutin's] product is like the Mona Lisa—fantastic and affordable by a few. My product is like a postcard of the Mona Lisa. Many people will buy it like it and have fun with it and enjoy it, and yet they will always look at the real thing and say, 'Someday!'"
Haughton, who got the idea for her company when a piece of red confetti stuck to the bottom of her shoe at a wedding, says Louboutin should have no reason to be against her product. "What did Henry Ford say when other car makers painted their vehicles black?" she said. (If you're wondering, though: In addition to her Rosso Solini-soled shoes, Haughton says she owns a pair of real Louboutins, the Foxtrot slingback.)
Judging by Louboutin's legal battle with Yves Saint Laurent, one would expect that the company might not take Haughton's comparisons so lightly.
“Mr. Louboutin is the first designer to develop the idea of having red soles on women's shoes,” the Louboutin lawsuit against Yves Saint Laurent states. “The red sole has become synonymous with Christian Louboutin and high fashion.”
Not so, says YSL. “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 and the ruby red shoes that carried Dorothy home in The Wizard of Oz,” the company recently shot back.
We would think that YSL is on Team Tara, then. Wonder if Louboutin’s lawsuit might have its next target?
Check out more on the Yves Saint Laurent-Christian Louboutin feud.
