For the uninitiated, the Moon Boot boots are a work of all-Italian industrial design. They are protected by the rules governing copyright. To date, 25,000 pairs have been sold, and they also occupy a space at the Museum of modern art in New York. And now they can add another milestone to their story. Fifty-two years after their birth, the most famous après-ski in the world obtain a historic judicial victory against no less than Chiara Ferragni.
The Court of Milan has ordered the withdrawal of all copies of Ferragni’s boots from the market and compensation, obviously in favor of the company that created the Moon Boots. The Tecnica Group of Giavera del Montello (Treviso). The compensation will be established in a private agreement.
But let’s understand better what happened. The Treviso industrial group’s legal battle begins when Chiara Ferragni ‘s “snow boots” land on the market. The similarity between Ferragni’s boots and the Moon Boot is evident, and so the legal action begins. However, the legal battle does not start now. In fact, it seems that the first controversies arose three years ago. At the time, “a settlement agreement was signed“. This said that: “the companies that refer to the Ferragni galaxy undertake not to copy anymore.” The galaxies in question would be – as reconstructed by the Treviso Tribune – Mofra Shoes of Barletta, Diana Srl and Serendipity Srl. The last would also be the company that manages the Chiara Ferragni Collection brand. But when the agreements failed, the Tecnica group made recourse to the law, and so came sentence 491 of last January 25.
“Now we have a strong weapon to defend ourselves against the many fakes in circulation” comments Alberto Zanatta, president of Tecnica Group and son of Giancarlo, inventor of après-ski. “The first sentence was in 2016, but this step is important because it is unlikely that any judge will decide otherwise after two sentences. And we certainly do not intend to stop prosecuting unfair competitors. Strengthened by the position we have acquired in Italy, we are working to counteract the false. Also sold in other countries, starting with France and Germany “.
The founder, who is now 80 years old, is also satisfied. “It was 1969, I was at New York’s Grand Central station to meet an American importer,” he says. “Hanging was a massive photo of the moon landing a few weeks earlier. The diving suit struck me but above all by the imprint, so unnatural, oval. Already on the plane, during the return trip to Italy, I started drawing some sketches and thinking of nylon as a material, just like for astronauts “.
