Ferrari Threatens To Sue Philipp Plein After Instagramming His Shoes On Top Of His Ferrari

Luxury Fashion designer, Philipp Plein is looking at a potential lawsuit for Instagramming a photo of his shoes on top of a Ferrari.

Luxury car company #Ferrari threatened to sue the German fashion designer because he posted images of his sneakers on the hood of his own personal Ferrari. Plein took to Instagram and made several posts explaining how Ferrari plans to sue him. Ferrari says Plein’s behavior “tarnishes the reputation of Ferrari’s brands and causes Ferrari further material damage.”

Ferrari’s letter also said Plein is using Ferrari’s trademarks for “promotional purposes” of increasing his own brand and products’ visibility. But Plein clapped back saying the letter is “blackmail,” and asked his followers to send photos of his shoes on top of their luxury cars. Plein also made a slideshow of what his followers sent. Plein argues that people should have the right to post on their personal social media account and says this is more than just about promoting his art.

“This is a fight for our right to post on our private social media accounts whatever we decide (as long as it does not cause any harm to anybody),” he writes on his caption. Regardless, Ferrari may have a sound argument The Fashion Law reports.

“Just as in the US, the holder of a registered trademark in Italy has the right to prevent third parties from using identical or similar trademarks for identical or similar products or services,” TFL writes. “Given the positioning of Plein’s footwear in the photo – i.e., right next to the Ferrari logos, and with the coordinating colors in mind, consumers might be led to believe that the two brands are working in collaboration for Plein’s footwear collection or are otherwise affiliated in some way, which would give rise to merited claims of trademark infringement.”

However, Carmine Rotondaro, an independent legal adviser to Plein, called Ferrari’s accusations “totally baseless.” So far there are no details on whether Ferrari will actually move for with legal action. The letter concluded that Plein has 48 hours to remove the post. The post is currently still up.