Louboutin Miss Fred Tacco vs Steve Madden Becks
Manolo says, on the left you see the beautiful Miss Fred Tacco Boot from Christian Louboutin which the Manolo mentioned earlier today, retail price $695.
On the right you see the Steve Madden Becks patent leather bootie which was spotted by the Manolo’s internet friend Carrie, and priced at $149.95.
Clearly, the Louboutin has inspired the Madden shoe, although, if one looks closely, as our internet friend Cassandra has done…
Is it just me or is the picture on the Steve Madden link Carrie posted the same exact picture of Louboutin’s shoe, but with the red sole photoshopped out?
And that is indeed the exact conclusion of the Manolo, that the graphic designers at the Steve Madden have simply stolen the Saks Fifth Avenue picture, applied the computer, and… hey presto! It is now the Steve Madden shoe!
Of the course, the other Steve Madden Becks Booties, in the different colors, required slightly more complex photoshopping mad skillz…
Obviously, someone at the Steve Madden has taken the most unethical short cut to fooling the buyer
And naturally, this leaves the Manolo wondering exactly what the Becks looks like, not that he would purchase any shoe that so clearly ripped off the original, and is being sold by such scoundrels.
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Comments
Heather 17 years ago
Ugh. I think the yellow is the worst: http://zoomcc.richfx.com.edgesuite.net/zoomcc_stevemadden/image/media/BECKS_MUSTARD-SUEDE_zoom.jpg
It looks like a cartoon.
Tracy 17 years ago
I’m confused. =-( Wait, how do you know the Laboutin didn’t photoshop the Madden? Oh what a vicious circle…
Ashe Mischief 17 years ago
I was just going to comment with the same point as Heather! The mustard is oh so awful looking!
I suppose it’s a good thing that the Becks doesn’t come in the “Customize” option, because they do allow for a certain degree of heel customization… it’d be quite easy to duplicate the Louboutin.
crablegs 17 years ago
Pathetic. Knocking off the shoe is one thing but using the same photo is going too far. Send Madden back to jail.
roy 17 years ago
I always find it mystifying that recipes and fashion can not be copywrited, but “Happy Birthday” can. The lack of IP protection hardly seems to stop innovation.
However this is just tacky
Basje 17 years ago
Eeeh? When I saw the other colours I thought the Manolo had cobbled it together himself in Photoshop, I was so surprised they are actually sold like this!
jessica6 17 years ago
i noticed it a while ago when they showed both on shoewawa
Never teh Bride 17 years ago
Goodness, that is a horrible Shop. And one hell of a rip-off! Someone at Steve Madden should be very ashamed of themselves.
Miss Shoo 17 years ago
I really wish there was a law that forbade direct ripoffs, without the words “inspired by (insert name here). Thanks for pointing this out.
enc 17 years ago
Carrie is absolutely correct—just look at the bow on the laces. It’s an easy thing to do in Photoshop, as the subsequent illustration shows. We can see it on internet catalogs and print catalogs when the item is being shown in 5 different colorways, all they did was use the process outlined above to show the same model wearing the same t-shirt in white, black, blue, red and pink.
enc 17 years ago
As long as I’m on my soapbox, I’ll say this:
This is one of the two major reasons I won’t buy anything from Steve Madden. The company makes these baffling and—indeed—unethical choices, including stealing ideas.
The other reason is that the shoes are just plain cheap and uncomfortable—to me anyway.
I wonder if Louboutin will litigate?
jinnan-tonnyx 17 years ago
Ayyy!
Style Spy 17 years ago
I’m with enc — further proof that this company’s wares are not deserving of our hard-earned ducats. Fie on them!
Christina 17 years ago
Hmm, Maybe I am the only one that didn’t know this fact, but upon looking up Steve Madden on Wikipedia, it seems that he is actually a criminal. He was apparantly convicted and sentenced to 41 months prison in 2002 for stock manipulation, money laundering, and securities fraud.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Madden
Better add design fraud to that list as well…
kiddo 17 years ago
Steve Madden is truly the scummiest of scumballs, in my opinion. He has been known to tell *real* shoe designers, to their face, “I’m stealing your design.” Unfortunately, his unethical behavior is legal at this time.
Kate Cavendish 17 years ago
Unethical indeed, since Mr. Madden recently spend time in jail. Let’s “footcott” Steve Madden shoes.
Melissa 17 years ago
If you look at the picture of the green one it’s missing the reflection of the lace in the shiny part of the shoe. The other three pictures have the exact same reflection in different colors, but it’s missing in the green one altogether.
gail 17 years ago
The shadows are the same. That’s the real tip off.
TG 17 years ago
wow- that really is pathetic… seems like a company like Steve Madden could have at least taken the time & budget to buy the original shoe, re-photograph it and THEN send it to their china factory to knock it off. However, in defense of the poor graphic artist who sold his sole (haha- pun intended) for his paycheck, it is rather tricky to add color INTO black in a photograph like that.
kim 17 years ago
all ripoffs aside, these shoes are effing ugly. I still love Stevie and Christian, nevertheless
Meg from All About Appearances and The Bargain Queen 17 years ago
I want to hurl.
Now, I’m not a big fan of that particular shoe style to begin with, but the photo-shopped ones look absolutely awful. What were they thinking? Surely the cost of photographing a few shoes isn’t so much that it makes up for the loss of sales due to crappy pictures — let alone the further tarnishing on their company image!
I picked up a pair of Steve Madden shoes tonight, and as cute as they were, I couldn’t even bring myself to try them on. The pair of Steve Madden shoes that I do have are so cute, but the heel isn’t balanced right so they make my ankles turn out the moment I get lazy with my ankle muscles. That’s what I get for buying cheap shoes.
Style Bite 17 years ago
What a scam! Crablegs was right, going back to jail is probably in their near future.
miss saks 17 years ago
It is a rip-off, in terms of money and its cost. But lots of people like it and accept it. I would call it brand, and trust.
Molly 17 years ago
I am sure I’m a minority here when I will say – god bless Steve Madden. There are many people out there, actually MAJORITY of people – that simply cannot afford $500-$2000 shoes. Also, with all the hunger and poverty out there, I think it’s horrendous to charge OR to pay such a price for a pair of shoes, no matter how gorgeous they are. I love Louboutins – it’s one of my favorite designers – but I buy his shoes on ebay for a huge discount. Recently I bought Oh Deers – that were very close in match. Maybe you will call me a “fake”…but you know what? With the money I saved, I can afford a bigger apartment, and have put money in my son’s savings account!!! Just today I bought two gorgeous pairs of Steve Madden shoes that 100% resemble certain designer’s shoes – and I’m happy! I have gorgeous shoes for a fraction of the price.
Also, I agree that Steve Maddens are not super comfortable on the leg, but PLLLLLLLZ don’t tell me that Louboutins are – argggh they KILL my feet, and all these socialites that wear his stuff should thank him for their BUNIONS. Podiatrist anyone? My husband is one…care to make an appointment? ;-))))
17 years ago
DID ANYONE SEE THE LATES THAT sTEVE SIGNED A DEAL THROUGH JONES TO MAKE L.E.I FOR WAL-MART. WITH STEVE MADDEN SHOES IN TARGET AND SOON TO BE WAL-MART WHY SHOULD WE BUY HIS SHOES WHEN WE CAN BUY HIS KNOCKOFFS AT TARGET AND WAL-MART FOR 50 LESS!!!!
judy 16 years ago
This design is so classic, $ 149.95 is very cheap, how to buy？