According to WWD, François-Henri Pinault shot back today against accusations that his luxury group supports plagiarism at a press conference following the publication of PPR’s 2011 results. Pinault was addressing the accusations Louboutin made to French daily Libération, where Louboutin compared PPR to counterfeiters and claimed the group was trying to destroy his independent label. Pinault responded to the accusations by indicating his confidence that Yves Saint Laurent would win the right to continue selling shoes with red soles in the ongoing case against Christian Louboutin. According to the PPR chairman and chief executive officer, “We won the first proceedings in quite precise, clear terms and I am therefore very confident with regard to this case, even if I regret it, because these are two great houses and I think we have better things to do than to fight in court over a question of color.”
In his interview with Libération, Louboutin claimed that he had met with Pinault to discuss the issue at the outset and was under the impression that Pinault would fix the problem. He further added that PPR was oblivious to the alleged infringement and that PPR probably did not expect a small brand to tackle its “army of lawyers.” However according to Pinault, who regrets the court fight because of a personal friendship and respect for Louboutin, “I tried to find an arrangement in the best interest of both brands. That was not the wish of the house of Louboutin, which decided to attack Saint Laurent.”
As previously reported, a Manhattan judge in August denied Louboutin a preliminary injunction, which would have prevented YSL from selling its red, monochromatic pump from its 2011 resort collection. The lower court had also questioned the validity of the “red-sole mark” that Louboutin obtained back in 2008. Louboutin has since appealed that ruling.
Separately at the results presentation, PPR disclosed the weight of footwear across its various brands. According to WWD, the footwear category comprises about 5 percent of business at Bottega Veneta, 13 percent at Gucci and 25 percent at YSL. With respect to PPR’s “other brands” – which include Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Sergio Rossi, Brioni and non-shoe names such as Boucheron and Girard-Perregaux – footwear accounts for 15 percent of the business. In its sport and lifestyle division, PPR said Puma derives 51 percent of revenues from footwear, versus only 1 percent for its other brands, primarily Volcom and Electric.