Designer Louboutin wins court ban on anti-Islam ad

BRUSSELS - Luxury shoe designer Christian Louboutin has won his battle to stop an anti-Islam ad campaign in Belgium that features a pair of his iconic stiletto heels, an Antwerp trade court ruled Monday.

The poster by far-right Flemish group "Women against Islamisation" shows the bare legs of an ex-Miss Belgium wearing the signature red-soled Louboutins as she lifts up a black dress.

Words etched along the naked leg mark potential skirt lengths - ranging from "Sharia compatible" at the ankle to "stoning" high up a thigh.

The legs belong to Anke Van dermeersch, now a senator with the anti-immigrant right-wing Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) party.

The poster is loosely inspired by a photograph by Canadian feminist Rosea Lake which went viral in January called "Judgements", depicting various skirt lengths ranging from "matronly" to "whore".

Women against Islamisation must pull down all its posters within 24 hours, the court said.

Paris-based French designer Louboutin had complained the advert tarnished his image. Following the ruling, party leader Filip Dewinter swiftly published a new version of the poster on Twitter.

It shows Van dermeersch's legs from a lying down position instead of standing up and swaps the red soles for yellow ones.

Van dermeersch meanwhile called the ruling a "political decision".

The Flemish Interest party has suffered in the polls in recent years and regularly launches provocative media campaigns against what it calls the "Islamisation" of Belgium.