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Louboutin keeps the exclusivity of the red soles, Lalique celebrates her 130th birthday, Farfetch appoints a fashion director and other news of the day.
Press review
Louboutin keeps the exclusivity of the red soles
It was a long-lasting legal battle. French shoe maker Christian Louboutin announced last Friday that he won his case against a Dutch company accused of copying his famous high heels and red soles shoes.
A court in The Hague ordered Dutch shoe manufacturer Van Haren to stop selling models similar to those of the French luxury brand. Van Haren, attacked by Louboutin for having marketed shoes with a red sole in 2012, will also have to pay damages to the Paris-based company.
In its decision handed down on Wednesday, the Hague Court ruled that Van Haren’s shoe model, entitled “Cinquième avenue” and developed by American actress Halle Berry, “infringes the French designer’s trademark rights“. The judges ordered the Dutch company to destroy all existing copies of this model and provide details from all stores where it was sold.
“Christian Louboutin warmly welcomes this new judgment, which further reinforces the favourable decisions regarding the validity of the red sole brand already issued in many countries,” the company reacted in a statement.
Lalique celebrates its 130 years
Combine its crystal with fine wines, gastronomy and even the hotel business: this is the rejuvenation experience offered itself, Lalique, a venerable 130-year-old house that aims to establish itself as a “global” lifestyle brand thanks to its diversified activities.
“What is produced at the crystal factory is very pretty, but it is also alive: you can put flowers in the vases, and wine in the glasses,” explains Romain Iltis, head sommelier of Villa Lalique, a two-star Michelin restaurant with a five-star hotel, which opened in 2015 in Wingen-sur-Moder.
The Vosges manufactory, built in 1921, has long concentrated the crystallier universe on its own. Until the arrival in 2011 of a museum, then in 2015 and 2016 of two high-end hotel restaurants with the Lalique logo.
If Silvio Denz decided to invest in Lalique, in financial difficulties, it was with the objective of developing a “lifestyle” positioning around six pillars: decorative objects, interior design, jewellery, perfumes, art and hotel and catering“, with the aim of “creating synergies between crystal, wine, gastronomy and hospitality“, he adds.
Over the years, beyond her traditional glasses, decanters, vases and perfume bottles, Lalique has spread her crystal on armrests of armchairs, lamp inserts, corner mirrors, earrings or bottles of spirits. In the kitchen, we have also “adjusted” to this convergence of universes, “and it’s just captivating“, says Chef Jean-Georges Klein, who plans to win a third star for Villa Lalique.
Lalique created a barrel, weighing 400 kilos, all in crystal, even the rivets. A unique piece in the world that has been enthroned for a few weeks in the heart of Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, in the Sauternes region, which celebrates its 400th anniversary and which the famous crystal factory has owned since 2013.
The transparent back of the large barrel strapped with noble leather is illustrated with a reproduction of a 1928 engraving by René Lalique entitled “Femme et raisin”, which also adorns the bottles of this 1st vintage wine classified in 1855. It took 12 craftsmen and 2 years of work to make, assemble and decorate it in the Lalique factory in Wingen-sur-Moder (Bas-Rhin).
Farfetch appoints Holli Rogers as first-ever chief fashion officer
Farfetch has appointed Holli Rogers, General Manager of Browns, as Fashion Director, a newly created position for the online luxury retailer.
Ms. Rogers was promoted to this position with immediate effect and will continue to hold the position of Chief Executive Officer of Browns in conjunction with her new appointment. Before Browns, Rogers was fashion director at Net-A-Porter. She has also worked at Chanel and in the American department store Neiman Marcus.
In his new role at the parent company, Rogers will work with Farfetch’s marketing, style and visual merchandising teams to “ensure that the company’s fashion approach is integrated into the brand’s overall customer experience DNA.”
José Neves, CEO and founder of Farfetch, said she “could bring her unique experience to the entire Farfetch sector at the management level“.
“Her reputation, her high esteem among fashion CEOs, influencers and the industry in general, her connections and her incredible aesthetics will be a huge benefit to Farfetch,” he added.
It should also be noted that Farfetch has decided to give up animal fur. Under pressure from animal activists, the platform announced that it would no longer sale real fur products, starting in December 2019.
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