Marc Fisher Footwear, which distributes Trump's footwear collection, reacts to Lam's cease-and-desist letter by stating, 'There is nothing iconic about the appearance of the Lam sandal.'
- Dec 23, 2011
AceShowbiz - Ivanka Trump is staring down a lawsuit from Derek Lam. The daughter of business magnate Donald Trump was accused of copying Lam's "Ayami" design after one of his designers came across her Cadie wedge sandals online, but her footwear collection's licensee is standing up for her.
Responding to the plagiarism allegation, Marc Fisher Footwear said in a statement, "The Lam wedge sandals are of a popular design type that has been used by numerous manufacturers for many decades." The company went on to stress, "There is nothing iconic about the appearance of the Lam sandal."
Marc Fisher also slammed claim that Trump's Cadie wedge "mimic each unique design detail" of Lam's Ayami sandals. It stated, "The Ivanka Trump sandals prominently display the Ivanka Trump name, and there can be no confusion as to the source of the Ivanka Trump sandals."
WWD earlier reported that Derek Lam has fired a cease-and-desist letter against Ivanka Trump on Wednesday, December 21. Jan-Hendrik Schlottmann, chief executive officer of Derek Lam, told WWD, "We have seen very similar copies before but we have never seen a shoe that perfectly copied."
Schlottmann dished that he became aware of the designs' similarity after one of his shoe designers saw Trump's wedge while shopping on Bloomingdales.com. He added, "I actually ordered them, but I haven't received them yet. I'm sure Ms. Trump doesn't know her wedge is copy because it's through a license."
Ivanka Trump Footwear and its licensee, Marc Fisher Footwear, now have seven days to pull the shoes off the market.
