Louboutin sought an injunction that would have stopped Yves Saint Laurent from selling their red-soled shoes, but Judge Victor Marrero wrote in his ruling: “Because in the fashion industry color serves ornamental and aesthetic functions vital to robust competition, the court finds that Louboutin is unlikely to be able to prove that its red outsole brand is entitled to trademark protection, even if it has gained enough public recognition in the market to have acquired secondary meaning.” {NY Daily News}

In other words, even though they filed for a trademark, Marrero’s opinion is that a color shouldn’t have been approved for a trademark in the first place and Yves Saint Laurent is free to continue selling their red-soled shoes while the larger case of trademark infringement is being decided.

Louboutin can always appeal the ruling,  but the judge’s position doesn’t provide much optimism for an eventual ruling in favor of Christian Louboutin. In addition to being expensive and time consuming, once a certain number of judges agree that any rulings are legally sound, appeals can be rejected before they’re even started.

Looks like it may be safe to order those DIY red soles soon.

Pairings

the Kate Moss & Jamie Hince Wedding

We’ll start with some good news. Perennial supermodel Kate Moss married longtime rocker boyfriend Jamie Hince of The Kills in a 1920’s style unstructured John Galliano gown that’s drawn mixed reviews. The groom wore custom Yves Saint Laurent by Stefano Pilatti, as did his best woman Alison Mosshat. Vogue UK reports that Galliano did attend, though he was understandably camera shy. We all remember what happened the last time cameras caught surprise revelations from the former Dior designer, so hopefully there was some non-alcoholic sparkling cider available for him to toast the couple with.

After the wedding, the bride changed into a white 3-piece Stella McCartney pants suit as she and the groom hopped on a helicopter to embark on their honeymoon. McCartney was also in attendance.

The festivities cost a reported £1 million (approximately $1.6 million), and the guest list also included fellow supermodel bestie Naomi Campbell, a bevy of Vogue editors past and present (Anna Wintour, Emanuelle Alt, Carine Roitfeld), newlyweds Lara Stone and David Walliams, Daphne Guiness, Marc Jacobs, Kelly Osbourne and Jude Law.

Sounds like the ultimate bridal fashion show.

the Prince Albert II of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock Wedding

Then we get to the only wedding that could force Kate Moss to change her wedding date. A number of the fashionable guests for Moss’ wedding were also invited to the wedding of Prince Albert of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock (now, Princess Charlene).

The reported$65 million budget makes the Kate Moss affair seem positively low key, but considering the fact that the Prince and Wittstock actually had two weddings, and invited all 30,000+ of Monaco’s residents to take part in some part of the festivities, maybe it’s relatively reasonable. For the record, two weddings is actually common in France, where a civil ceremony is required before a religious ceremony is recognized.

In spite of rumors that Wittstock was considering becoming a runaway bride *three times* amid new paternity tests for Prince Albert (the groom already has two children out of wedlock, and is reported to have fathered two more while dating Wittstock), the couple made it through the official state marriage, and onto a balcony where they shared an awkward kiss.

They're definitely no William and Kate

For their civil ceremony, the bride wore a light blue Chanel suit, and for their church ceremony a custom made Armani Prive gown. The dress featured a 5-meter train, and was studded with crystals and pearls.

Guests included, um, all of Monaco (see previous note), Prince Albert’s ex-girlfriend Naomi Campbell (who had a wedding filled weekend), Karl Lagerfeld (who designed the blue Chanel suit), Giorgio Armani (who designed the wedding dress), French President Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla Bruni, as well as too many princes, princesses, kings and queens of various countries to mention individually. There’s no agreement on whether any of Prince Albert’s children or their mothers were in attendance. The palace says no, rumors say his daughter, Jazmin Grace, and Nicole Coste, mother of his son Alexandre, were somewhere amid the well-wishers.

Congratulations to all the happy couples, and good luck to any who aren’t so happy. No names.

Partings

Now for the partings. Because sometimes wedding diamonds aren’t always forever, for every spectacular celebrity wedding this weekend, we got two spectacular celebrity divorces.

the Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver Divorce

The Monaco Royal wedding may take the crown for scandalous and excessive weddings, but leave it to Hollywood royalty to show ’em how it’d done when it comes to scandalous and excessive divorce! Maria Shriver officially decided to terminate her marriage to the Governator, and filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences. Which was kind, considering she could have cited messing around with the maid.

The couple will split an estimated $400 million, and custody of their minor children. In total, they have 4 children. If you’re trying to do the math, that’s enough for 1.5 royal weddings for each of them, should there be any eligible princes or princesses.

the Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds Divorce

After just 2 years of marriage, the ink is dry on the divorce papers for Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds. The split was reportedly amicable, with neither seeking spousal support. Probably not easy, but at least it was quick.

the Thomas Jane and Patricia Arquette Divorce

“Hung” star Thomas Jane and former “Medium” star Patricia Arquette also made it official, and sealed the deal on a divorce. There’s a joke about seeing this one coming somewhere in there. The couple will share custody of their 8-year-old daughter. Their marriage lasted approximately 3.5 years. In Hollywood marriage years (sort of like dog years), that’s almost 15 years.

the George Lopez and Ann Serrano Divorce

Then there’s late night comedian George Lopez and wife Ann Serrano, who are calling it quits after 17 years of marriage. They share one minor daughter, and thanks to a life saving donation from Serrano, they share the same kidneys as well (obviously, Serrano has one, Lopez has the other). Fortunately, the couple is trying to keep things amicable on both fronts.

Can you imagine how messy things would be if Serrano filed to get custody of her kidney back? Awwwkward.

Can you identify which red sole shoe is YSL, and which is Christian Louboutin?

If you see a flash of red on the bottom of a woman’s shoe, your first thought might be that those shoes are by Christian Louboutin. That’s certainly what Christian Louboutin thinks your first thought will be, because they recently filed a lawsuit against Yves Saint Laurent in Manhattan which claims that “Defendants use of red footwear outsoles that are virtually identical to plaintiff’s Red Sole Mark,” and that the shoes “is likely to cause and is causing confusion, mistake and deception among the relevant purchasing public as to the origin of the infringing footwear.” {NYDN via the Cut}

This is certainly a unique case, given that Yves Saint Laurent isn’t exactly selling shoes at knockoff prices. Loboutin was one of the first designers to use a colored sole to brand his footwear, but should someone be able to trademark or copyright the placement of a color?

In the photo above, the color of the sole on the Yves Saint Laurent tribute sandal (left) does look a shade different from the color of the sole on the Christian Louboutin sandals (right).  It’s worth noting that the Yves Saint Laurent shoes are part of a collection that includes yellow sandals with a yellow sole, and the Cut says that the collection these shoes are from also includes navy shoes with navy soles, green shoes with green soles, etc.

The slight difference in shade might be a matter of photography and lighting though, and to someone who’s not an avid fashion fan, it’s not difficult to believe that someone could mistake the Yves Saint Laurent shoes for a pair of Louboutins based on the sole coloring. At $795 (the price of the YSL tribute sandals pictured), that doesn’t dilute the Louboutin brand in the same way that a $100 exact replica might, but it could certainly harm the positioning of red soled shoes being something exclusive to Christian Louboutin.

While we can certainly see, and support, Louboutin’s position in this case, we also have to wonder if it might set a bad precedent. Will Chanel be able to sue bag makers who create quilted leather goods? That wouldn’t just include counterfeiters, it would make Marc Jacobs and plenty of established fashion designers susceptible to punishment as well. When dots begin to take over fall wardrobes, will one designer decide that another’s look too similar to theirs?

Should this actually make it to court, we’ll be tracking the decision.

The rollout is considered a test case, and if successful, could mean a wider range of sizes in other Saks locations around the country.

The clothes won’t be in a special section, they’ll be included on the same racks as the 0-12 sizes that most items already come in. With any hope, this could be a step towards blurring the line between straight sized and plus sized fashion.

Saks and the labels haven’t rushed to comment, which may be a sign that the labels are still grappling with how to promote the expanded size options to a group of customers who’ve long been ignored. {Jezebel} But a baby step is still a step in the right direction.

The prospect of continuing a label after a visionary founder unexpectedly leaves the company however, is not unprecedented. Consider parallels to the cases of Christian Dior and more recently Gianni Versace.

Christian Dior, 10 years into his career as head designer for his label, suffered a fatal heart attack at 52. Yves Saint-Laurent, then only 21-years-old, presented his first collection for the house a year later in 1958. At that time, Dior’s label was such a significant part of the French fashion industry that shuttering it wasn’t seen as an option.

In recent days when comparisons between Dior and McQueen have been drawn, many are quick to point out that while McQueen is celebrated for his artistic vision and immense creativity, the line is only recently profitable. And not even profitable enough to split sales figures out from other labels in the Gucci Group portfolio at that. While McQueen may be suitably positioned to claim the “genius” term often ascribed to him and Dior, McQueen’s label at this point is not a financially crucial part of parent company PPR.

But a more recent case offers more hope. When Gianni Versace was murdered in Miami in 1997, he was 19 years into his namesake label, but had seen a large part of his success with celebrities and significant media attention in the 10 years before his death.

The company’s recent history hasn’t been entirely smooth: job cuts and a lower priced line have been announced {Bloomberg} as the company struggles to return to profitability among economic conditions that have seen labels like Escada pushed to the brink of collapse. While the next few years will require smart business decisions, Versace as a label has managed to thrive for more than a decade after the unexpected death of Gianni. Reviews of Donatella Versace’s first collections were mixed, but she has grown into a respected creative force, and helped to maintain hundreds of millions of dollars of sales annually.

While the news may seem sudden for some, considering how recent McQueen’s death is, the question now is who will be McQueen’s Saint-Laurent.

Read more {YSL offical facebook page}