Loro Piana, New Bond Street store in London Credits: Loro Piana LVMH-owned luxury lifestyle brand Loro Piana has added yet another win to its ongoing efforts to defend its signature White Sole footwear range. In a preliminary ruling issued on May 12 but only recently made public, the Court of Turin ordered French e-tailer Parijan SAS to stop producing and selling footwear judged to be a copy or dupe of Loro Piana's 'Summer Walk' and 'Open Walk' designs, which date back to 2003 and 2005. The ruling names four Parijan styles, among them 'Monaco Old Money' and 'Old Money Premium Suede Loafers,' and additionally prohibits the online retailer from making any commercial use of the Loro Piana and White Sole names. In his ruling, Judge Ludovico Sburlati concluded that Parijan's shoes did not just draw inspiration from Loro Piana's White Sole line, but copied the entire design formula: the pale rubber sole set against a suede upper, the soft, unstructured shape, the faux welt, matching-color stitching and the signature ridged outsole. Together, the court noted, these elements define the collection's identity. Rather than looking at each design aspect of the shoes separately, the court considered how all the features work together as a whole, noting that the complete look of a product can serve to identify its maker in the same way a logo does. Loro Piana SS26 campaign Credits: Mario Sorrenti While Parijan had argued that its shoes differed in construction and quality, the court was not persuaded, adding…
