Alexander McQueen Sues Steve Madden!

Filed Under: Legal Matters Shoes! Shoes! Shoes! Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen is suing Steve Madden Ltd for copyright infringement!

McQueen alleges that Madden ripped off his Faithful bootie, a black leather open-toe bootie worn by the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Rihanna. In the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, McQueen's lawyers cites Madden's Seryna bootie as a "studied imitation" of McQueen's highly lauded shoe.

McQueen's lawyers go on to say that, "In fact, the only design element of the 'Faithful Bootie,' that Madden did not deliberately copy is the zipper pull that contains the 'Alexander McQueen' trademark."

Apparently, McQueen's attorneys sent a cease and desist letter to Madden back in September, but Madden refused to comply.

McQueen is seeking injunctive relief preventing Madden from hawking merchandise that infringe on its trade dress, profits made by wrongful acts plus interest, surrender of any remaining infringing goods to be destroyed, and legal fees.

Hm. We really are team McQueen - it's clear that Madden completely copied the shoe to sell at a cheaper price. We know knock-offs are bad. But, Madden's shoes, which have now been removed from his website, retailed at $129.95 while McQueen's cost about $1,155. In this economy, it's pretty easy to defer to the cheaper shoe!

Which is probably exactly what prompted McQueen to take action, especially considering Madden has been ripping him off for ages.

In a moment of weakness, we love the idea of Madden's cheaper bootie, but it's never right to piggyback off the work of someone else.

Posted: October 8, 2009 at 2:00 pm