Aquazzura sues Steve Madden over copyright infringement

Los Angeles: Luxury
shoe brand Aquazzura is suing Steve Madden for allegedly copying founder
Edgardo Osorio’s designs.

The lawsuit,
submitted in US District Court in New York by Florence-based footwear brand, alleges
that Madden’s Kaitlynn, Daayna, and Sassey silhouettes copy nearly every detail
of Aquazzura’s Belgravia pump, Belgravia flat and Wild Thing sandal,
respectively, said The Hollywood Reporter.

Defendant’s flagrant copying of multiple of Plaintiff’s well-known
designs is likely to cause consumers to falsely believe that Defendant’s
products come from or otherwise are associated with Plaintiff and to harm
Plaintiff and the substantial goodwill it has developed in its proprietary
designs and trade dress, the legal documents read.

“We will continue to fight and try to stop these actions.
Authenticity and originality are at the core of our brand, and we will defend
them at all costs”, Aquazzura CEO Jean-Michel Vigneau said in a statement.

The suit against Madden comes just after Aquazzura filed a
case against Ivanka Trump and her manufacturing line, Marc Fisher, for
allegedly copying the Wild Thing style with her Hettie shoe. In the past Madden
has been sued for allegedly copying other designers’ creations.

The American designer was sued by Stella McCartney last
October for allegedly infringing on the copyrights of her popular Falabella bag
with his BTotally bag.

PTI