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Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent vs Christian Louboutin

Should a brand be able to patent the colour of a shoe sole?

Yves Saint Laurent’s legal team filed its response in Christian Louboutin’s red-sole trademark appeal, maintaining its stance. The now-cumbersome case is set to continue through 2012.

In April 2011, Louboutin filed a $1 million trademark infringement suit against Yves Saint Laurent, over four offending shoe designs from YSL’s Cruise 2011 Collection: the Tribute, Tribtoo, Palais, and Woodstock. The reason being that the monochromatic designs included a red sole, which was patented by Louboutin in 2008.

YSL then retorted with a counterclaim seeking a cancellation of the red-sole trademark.

In late July, the two parties went to court, carrying dozens of shoes before New York Southern District Judge Victor Marrero. After much deliberation and several playful jabs at the dispute, Marrero denied Louboutin’s request for a preliminary injunction in August. Furthermore, he suggested that the patent should not have been issued to Louboutin by the U.S. Patent Office in the first place.

Meanwhile, Louboutin’s legal team appealed the court’s ruling and even received the support of Tiffany & Co. in an attempt to build a solid case. Tiffany’s, which has patented the Tiffany blue color, filed an amicus brief supporting Louboutin, arguing that the court should rule in favour of the red sole trademark. However, despite Louboutin’s desperate attempts to maintain its patent, it appears that YSL will not budge. Its response on Tuesday only reaffirmed that this battle will continue throughout 2012.

Yves Saint Laurent A/W 2010-2011 Manifesto

Yves Saint Laurent A/W 2010-2011 Manifesto

The Yves Saint Laurent Fall/Winter 2010-2011 Manifesto will make an exclusive debut in the streets of New York on Tuesday, September 14, 2010, followed by a worldwide release on Saturday, September 18 in the streets of Paris, London, Milan, Tokyo, Hong Kong and, for the first time, Beirut. In keeping with the introduction each season of a new city for the Manifesto distribution, Beirut serves as a unique showcase for this season’s project.

The Manifesto, now in its seven edition, was conceived to magnify the field and extend the reach of fashion. Photographed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, the new manifesto features Daria Werbowy in the new AW10 Fall campaign. In a spirited gesture of
generosity and democracy, over half a million copies of the Manifesto will be distributed globally and to the first 2,000 passerby in each city with a custom cotton bag designed by Pilati.

After seven consecutive seasons of collaboration, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin with Stefano Pilati have established a visual iconography for Yves Saint Laurent with great momentum, breadth and depth, given added dimension this season through a short film shot
during the campaign that will be released online the week before the unveiling of the Manifesto.

The total evolution of this season’s Manifesto, featuring exclusive news and images will be relayed on www.yslmanifesto.com, YSL’s official Facebook page and the YSL Twitter account. Downloads of the complete Fall/Winter 2010-2011 Manifesto will be available on www.yslmanifesto.com as of Saturday, September 18. Finally, participants in and witnesses to the distribution in each city will be invited to submit images documenting the activity for consideration for an online gallery on Facebook and the Manifesto website.

This broad, inclusive revelation of Stefano Pilati’s Yves Saint Laurent at once engages in a dynamic, contemporary discourse by taking it to the street.

Yves Saint Laurent New Vintage II

Yves Saint Laurent New Vintage II

This winter, Yves Saint Laurent introduces ‘New Vintage II’ in the footsteps of the original NOHARM brand, the second edition of an environmentally-conscious capsule collection designed to reclaim, recycle and sustain. Recycling unused fabrics from the YSL archive, and adapting them to his classic silhouettes, Creative Director Stefano Pilati marries feminine refinement with sustainability — a concept more relevant than ever in today’s universe.

Pilati traditionally employs fabric innovation as a method to create uniqueness in a garment. In this second ‘New Vintage’ collection he presents several iconic silhouettes using the aforementioned archive fabrics exclusively and evolves them through varied treatments and distinctive textile combinations.

‘New Vintage II’ will be available as of mid-December 2009 in limited, numbered editions at the YSL flagship boutiques in Paris, London and New York. Having debuted in June 2009, the first ‘New Vintage’ collection was sold exclusively at Barneys New York — an innovator in the movement towards socially and environmentally-responsible fashion — where it met great demand and immediate success.

Yves Saint Laurent Dies at 71

Yves Saint Laurent Dies at 71Yves Saint Laurent, one of the greatest fashion designers in history, died at his home in Paris late Sunday at 71 after a long, undisclosed illness. He had been bedridden recently and friends said in the last week he had been unable to eat or talk. Saint Laurent had been rarely seen over the last year, and even then he was wheelchair bound and weak.

Born in Algeria in 1936, Yves Saint Laurent established houses of couture and boutiques in Paris and New York. He was the foremost assistant to Christian Dior and became his successor as head of the House of Dior at the age of 21.

His early collections were noted for their extreme, maverick quality. He opened his own Paris house in 1961, featuring the “chic beatnik” look; knitted turtlenecks; thigh-length boots; and short jackets. He revolutionized the fashion world by creating trousers and broad-shouldered suits that were images of power for women.

His later designs include sophisticated tweed suits, the Mondrian dress, pleated skirts, updated peasant costumes, tuxedos for women, and heavy costume jewelry. He also designed for the Ballets of Roland Petit. By the mid-1970s his design empire included sweaters, neckties, eyeglass cases, linens, children’s clothes, and fragrances.