Are your Louboutins really Louboutins?
Federal customs officials have stopped more than 20,000 pairs of counterfeit Christian Louboutin shoes from stepping into the US, from China.
US Customs and Border Protection reported a total of four shipments of fake Louboutin shoes being seized on Tuesday. This comes after another shipment was seized in late July.
A spokesman for the department, Jaime Ruiz, said the luxury shoes could have sold for a total of $18 million in the USA.
The vaunted French designer’s shoes come in an array of colours and styles, and often charge well-heeled customers thousands per pair.
Countless A-List celebrities regularly wear Christian Louboutin, which are famed for their distinctive red lacquered sole.
We’ve heard of people faking the sole, but we’ve never heard of such a large batch of fakes…
The knock-off shoes were said to be likely destined for swap meets or sale through websites.
Ruiz said shoes were very good counterfeits, worryingly, and will most likely be destroyed. Our reaction to that line here would have been a good one to catch on camera…
Louboutin himself has been fiercely defending his right to be the sole label to use the distinctive red soles over the past year.
The designer has faced two unsuccessful court battles with Yves Saint Laurent and Zara, both of which argued that they too have the right to sell shoes with red soles.
