Two weeks ago, luxury footwear designer Christian Louboutin quietly launched a new website that prominently featured a rather unusual video. In it, a truck drives over a pile of what appear to be Mr. Louboutin’s signature red-soled shoes, which retail for $600 and up, and are a recent source of inspiration for Jennifer Lopez.
“I hope that little motion-picture destruction…gets picked up virally,” said Harley Lewin, partner at McCarter & English LLP, who represents Louboutin on intellectual property issues. An observer working with Mr. Lewin shot the footage in China, after a seizure of fake merchandise by the Chinese Administration for Industry and Commerce.
The website, http://www.dmchristianlouboutin.com/, marks a stark change in the way luxury brands are addressing the problem of fakes. Exasperated by the cultural acceptability of buying counterfeit merchandise, Mr. Louboutin has boldly decided to go public with his efforts, and essentially shame purveyors of fakes out of business by changing consumer attitudes.
“We have adopted a ‘zero tolerance’ policy and have put in place a comprehensive program to deal not only with the sites offering fake Christian Louboutin products, but the sources thereof, the distribution systems, the auction sites and other avenues of trade in the fake products,” the site says on its homepage. The site, which is linked to Mr. Louboutin’s main website, also maintains a list of e-commerce retailers that are selling fake Louboutin products, as well as news updates about lawsuits and raids.
Thus far, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. On the PurseForum, an online community of more than 250,000 handbag enthusiasts, the site sparked a discussion that has generated 41 comments since it first got picked up on April 28th One commenter, called “Bitstuff” wrote: “Oh my, it’s an official CL site! It’s fantastic that they are finally educating customers and taking action against counterfeiters.” (Mr. Lewin said that neither he nor Louboutin did anything to inform the blog about the existence of the site.)
For Mr. Lewin, the public response reinforced his long-held belief that clients ought to take a more direct approach to dealing with counterfeiters, instead of quietly policing brands behind the scenes. “I tell people this and they say, ‘What do you know? You’re a lawyer.’ I say, ‘I am for 40 years dealing with this. I know the public,’” he said.
The website, http://www.dmchristianlouboutin.com/, marks a stark change in the way luxury brands are addressing the problem of fakes. Exasperated by the cultural acceptability of buying counterfeit merchandise, Mr. Louboutin has boldly decided to go public with his efforts, and essentially shame purveyors of fakes out of business by changing consumer attitudes.
“We have adopted a ‘zero tolerance’ policy and have put in place a comprehensive program to deal not only with the sites offering fake Christian Louboutin products, but the sources thereof, the distribution systems, the auction sites and other avenues of trade in the fake products,” the site says on its homepage. The site, which is linked to Mr. Louboutin’s main website, also maintains a list of e-commerce retailers that are selling fake Louboutin products, as well as news updates about lawsuits and raids.
Thus far, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. On the PurseForum, an online community of more than 250,000 handbag enthusiasts, the site sparked a discussion that has generated 41 comments since it first got picked up on April 28th One commenter, called “Bitstuff” wrote: “Oh my, it’s an official CL site! It’s fantastic that they are finally educating customers and taking action against counterfeiters.” (Mr. Lewin said that neither he nor Louboutin did anything to inform the blog about the existence of the site.)
For Mr. Lewin, the public response reinforced his long-held belief that clients ought to take a more direct approach to dealing with counterfeiters, instead of quietly policing brands behind the scenes. “I tell people this and they say, ‘What do you know? You’re a lawyer.’ I say, ‘I am for 40 years dealing with this. I know the public,’” he said.
This article from:http://www.dmchristianlouboutin.com
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