While some luxury labels shy away from social media, Christian Louboutin recently introduced their first global application for both iPhones and the iPod Touch. This launch is a groundbreaking digital base point for Louboutin lovers, providing endless, attainable brand information.

The app, available for free at the App Store, opens with the signature flash of luxe red before users are welcomed to interact via six different platforms: The Collection, 20 Ans, The Wish List, The Store Locator, News and Videos.

The Collection, for example, offers fans the chance to browse the seasonal collection, exploring shoes and bags in detail. Users can share favorites with friends via Twitter and Facebook. While 20 Ans enables users to view the full set of sketches of the 20th Anniversary Capsule Collection. Watch as mere ideas transform to full-fledged realized shoe.

Mix, match and always play just as the designer himself would love you to!

-Alana Quagliariello

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In the world of fashion, there is always an appropriate time and place for studs and spikes. In Christian Louboutin‘s new Roxane Collection for SS12, a little hardware goes a long way on these unique calf leather and water snake bags.

Available in a variety of colors and fabrications at ChristianLouboutin.com, the collection consists of four adorned bags: a large shopper, a medium shoulder bag, an envelope clutch and a wallet. It’s hard to pick which one is the most killer, but you’ll unanimously agree that each makes for ideal arm candy.

Roxane Wallet in Black Leather ($495)

-Alana Quagliariello

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Just because a piece of fashion has a big name label on it, and just because it’s super expensive, doesn’t make it a must-have or chic item. A fashion victim is a sucker who buys something just because she can – with no logical thought of style and value. Here’s a few examples of items that certainly take the cake, courtesy of LollieShopping.com. Head to the site to see the rest of these luxury fashion misses!
Christian Louboutin Paw Pumps ($5000): I truly believe CL came up with these shoes to make fun of the 1% who can afford to buy them and are dumb enough to wear them. They have to be a joke, right? I mean, they HAVE to be. Oh, please tell me that CL is just a big ol’ mean girl like me and that these shoes were nothing more than a prank on rich ladies.

One of my favorite episodes of “Real Housewives of New York” is the one in which the Countess calls Alex’s shoes “Herman Munster shoes,” to which Alex replies, “They’re Louis Vuitton.” “Well, even Louis Vuitton can make a mistake, darling,” the Countess cleverly counters. She’s right. Just because something has a designer label on it doesn’t make it stylish, fashionable or pleasing to the eye. LollieShopping.com explains this with a debate on the above Christian Louboutin shoe — read on and share your opinion at LollieShopping.com.

Does Christian Louboutin really have the right to exclusively have red-soled shoes? Read on for this fascinating analysis by lawyer Catlan McCurdy.

April of this year, shoe designer, Christian Louboutin, turned heads in the fashion and trademark crowds when the brand sued Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) for infringing Louboutin’s signature look: red-soled shoes. Duets covered it here. Both interested lawyers and fashion aficionados have been awaiting some form of decision, and our wishes were granted a couple weeks ago when Judge Victor Marrero denied Louboutin’s request for a preliminary injunction that would have prevented YSL from selling the red-soled shoes in its Cruise 2011 collection. Shipgoers everywhere sighed in relief. Judge Marreo not only denied the preliminary injunction, but additionally indicated that Louboutin would be unsuccessful if they continued in their suit against YSL and ordered Louboutin to show why the action should not be converted into a partial summary judgment.

I was surprised at the decision. Louboutin’s red-soles seem as iconic as Tiffany’s blue boxes and the Gucci stripe. But after reading the decision, Judge Marreo demonstrates that Louboutin may have shot themselves in their own elegantly-shod foot.

A color can be a trademark if it acts as symbol that distinguishes a firm’s goods and identifies their source, without serving any other significant function. Louboutin stated that he chose the color red for the soles of his shoes to create a shoe that would be more “engaging” and “sexy,” because red “attracts men to the women who wear my shoes.” Well, red also attracts the attention of bulls and hummingbirds. And district court judges.

Judge Marreo used Louboutin’s own reasoning for picking the color red as evidence of the color’s functionality when he stated that, “the outsole of a shoe is, almost literally, a pedestrian thing. Yet, coated in a bright and unexpected color, the outsole becomes decorative, an object of beauty. To attract, to reference, to stand out, to blend in, to beautify, to endow with sex appeal – all comprise nontrademark functions of color in fashion….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 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.”

This decision has sounded something akin to yelling fire in a movie theater within the fashion industry. Vogue UK is hypothesizing that other color marks in fashion could be in peril now. Louboutin has promised that they will appeal this decision and the legal team is using the additional time granted by Judge Marreo to seek evidence on how the fashion industry operates, how designers select colors and whether Louboutin’s trademark would be a “hindrance to competition,” as indicated by Judge Marreo in his ruling. YSL has stated that seeking additional evidence is time-consuming and useless, but seeing as how Louboutin’s trademark is in danger of being cancelled, their efforts are completely understandable.

-Catlan McCurdy

For more on collaborations with creativity and the law, check out the Duets Blog

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Let’s face it: there’s hardly anything realistic about Sex and the City. From a writer’s salary supporting a shoe addiction to a Manolo-identifying thief, to constantly dining at five star restaurants, devouring the latest fashions like their McDonald’s french fries, always finding time every week for your friends, dating millions of guys, and going for both Aiden and Mr. Big types – its  easy to conclude that these ladies live on a kind of parallel universe to the real Manhattan. As a fashion writer for the past seven years, I know that I won’t be buying an apartment with a walk-in closet on a quaint, tree-lined block anytime soon, and acknowledge that the perception of the fab foursome is skewed. However, I’ve watched the show since its inception, and love them nonetheless. It’s definitely a fantasy, and in some ways, perhaps a tad bit aspirational that at the core of this series is a tale about women and how crucial the bonds that they’ve formed with each other outlast other relationships and how every trial  that  comes their way does not escape their friends’ support. I digress; think what you must about the latest installment in the story, Sex and the City 2, but one thing is for certain — the fashion is fabulous!! I’ve pulled some actual pieces seen in the movie, but also others that are a million times more budget friendly, for us girls who enjoy a splurge from time to time, but mainly keep it real with our budget and style – enjoy!

Absolutely, #1 on my SATC 2 list – these fabulous gold and diamond Cleopatra earrings by the lovely Wendy Brandes $7,250

It may not be a dead-ringer for the Halston dress worn on the movie poster, but the Flirty Convertible Dress certainly has elegant lines and a complimentary cross-over cut. You can wear it as:

Knotted-front halter
• Halter
• One-shoulder
• Strapless
• Tie-waist
• Twist-front halter
• Skirt
• Twist-around
• Back-braided
• Cross-back
AND, oh yeah,  it’s $95

We love Kara Ross – and great to see her bag in the movie (Miranda also carries one!) Check out a similar Kara Ross bag here (about $1,100)

And for the final piece – the sparkly Louboutins seen in the film are to die for -but, for $28.49, you won’t cry one bit when some sequins fall off of these Liliana by Adi Women’s Glittering Pointed-toe Stilettos

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[Images via WWD.com]

Stephen Burrows started with sharp, bright colors: a yellow top, creamy prints, lime green tights. Whether it’s the printed skirts or the elegant silk tops, drapery eased its way into the collection. Terrified of the winter chill but eager to sport something more elaborate than a hoodie? Try Stephen’s hooded wrap tops, printed, draped, brightly-colored – weather, check; style, check. From the fun and fancy, he progressed to the tough and athletic, displaying pants with knee caps, sporty jackets and a cropped jacket with voided shoulders. From knits, prints, silk tops to funky accessories, the collection certainly showed Stephen’s range and fashion industry experience.

- Justina Lee

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