Ivanka Trump Sued Over Shoes

Luxury Italian firm says she copied its design
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 23, 2016 1:50 PM CDT
Ivanka Trump Sued Over Shoes
Ivanka Trump is being sued over a shoe design.   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Possible future First Daughter Ivanka Trump is in legal hot water. Aquazzura, a luxury Italian shoe company, says one of Trump's shoe designs for her fashion collection is a copycat of one of its own popular sandals. The company is suing Trump and three companies that work with her, and wants a court to stop her from selling her version of the shoe, USA Today reports. The issue is over Aquazzura's Wild Thing sandals, which have an insanely high heel and lots of fringe and cost $785, and Trump's Hettie High Heel sandals, which have an insanely high heel and lots of fringe and reportedly cost $145 before they became unavailable on Bloomingdale's website. Yahoo Style has a side-by-side comparison photo. Aquazzura had actually called Trump out way back in March, posting a photo of the two shoes on Instagram and bemoaning that moment "when someone blatantly steals your copyright designs and doesn't care."

Aquazzura's version has been seen on the feet of celebs including Olivia Palermo and Solange Knowles, and the lawsuit alleges that, "seeking the same success Aquazzura experienced but without having to put in the hard creative work, defendants resorted to knocking off plaintiff's popular designs." But two can play at that game: "This is a baseless lawsuit aimed at generating publicity," says the chief financial officer of one of the companies being sued. "The shoe in question is representative of a trending fashion style, is not subject to intellectual property law protection and there are similar styles made by several major brands." Aquazzura's founding designer seems to sort of agree with that: He told Footwear News last month, "It’s not only [Trump], and I’m glad to do other [Instagram] posts. I plan to do the same with Steve Madden and other people who have ripped us off." (Last year, Versace allegedly copied American Apparel.)

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