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ABC News' Lidia Alikhani reports:



If you find a pair of those trendy red-bottom heels for a deal that sounds too good to be true, it probably is.U.S. Customs and Border Protection confiscated 20,457 pairs of counterfeit Christian Louboutin shoes at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport.

“They label the shipments as generic shoes when, in fact, they’re bringing over contraband,” said Jaime Ruiz, a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

According to the CBP, the knock-off shoes that were transported in five different shipments on a cargo ship in large boxes from China had a domestic value of more than $57,000, meaning it cost just less than $3 per pair to make them.

Officials said there were enough of those red soles to add up to a suggested retail value of $18 million, an unbelievable profit.

“The original [Christian Louboutin shoes:http://www.redbottomsshoesny.com] is in china,” said chief CBP officer Guillermina Escobar. “Once we saw it was coming in from China, we knew there was a problem with the shipment.”

Officials took pictures of the shoes and consulted with the trademark holder to authenticate the shoe. Once they learned they were counterfeit, the hot commodities were taken off the black market and placed into the border patrol’s possession.

Had the shoes slipped through the cracks, Escobar said, they would likely have been sold on illegitimate websites and underground outlets, some of which may fail to mention the shoes are counterfeits.

The CBP said it will destroy the more than 20,000 pairs of high-fashion shoes, likely by burning them.

Escobar said a total of three different importers shipped the counterfeits on July 27 and Aug. 14 of this year.

The incident is still under investigation but the importers will likely be charged with a trademark violation.

CBP officials said there were 24,792 seizures of counterfeit and pirated goods in the 2011 fiscal year.

One thousand twenty of those trade seizures had a domestic value exceeding $37 million and all took place in the greater Los Angeles area.

“This represents an 18 percent increase in the number of seizures from fiscal year 2010,” said Escobar.

The CBP said it knows what hot commodities are coming in to the United States and will make sure to keep an eye out for any more counterfeits.

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Here's the details of the shoes as follow: http://www.redbottomsshoesny.com

Article Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Louboutin

It’s not often we see Kristin Scott Thomas stepping out of her favoured colour palette of black, navy and grey, but she surprised us on Saturday night.

The British actress took to the red carpet at the 2012 Venice Film Festival wearing a Giambattista Valli Resort 2013 silk paisley print skirt and top for the ‘Cherchez Hortense’ premiere.

With her hair swept up into a chic updo, she added a rich red lip colour and a selection of breathtaking jewels including two-tone statement earrings.

A gold sparkling Christian Louboutin Maykimay clutch completed her look.

Do you love this new look from Kristin, or do you prefer her more classic style?

http://www.redbottomsshoesny.com

 

This new colorway of the Christian Louboutin Louis Strass sneaker is getting ready to be released, coming in a sparkling Gold colorway.  The neck breaking high tops are covered in metallic Gold, built from a mix of premium textiles.  The side panels are covered in strass metals, while the other panels are done in matte Gold pony hair.  Just like your favorite Chuck Taylor, there is an ankle patch included on the inside panel, featuring Louboutin’s signature logo inside.  If you want to grab a pair, check for them now at Christian Louboutin accounts.Counterfeit Christian Louboutins from China, discovered by U.S. Customs recently, were confiscated before getting into hands of American buyers. Altogether, the knock-off shoes were worth $18 million in retail value.

Thursday, ABC News reported on the discovery of the fancy footwear that could have duped many people out of hard-earned cash.China allegedly was the source of 20,000 pairs of fake Christian Louboutins packaged to represent luxury shoes designed by the popular designer.The fake Christian Louboutins from a China maker were discovered by U.S. Customs agents before the shoes hit the street.Jaime Ruiz, a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said, "they label the shipments as generic shoes when, in fact, they're bringing over contraband."LONG BEACH -- Authorities at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport complex seized five shipments from China of more than 20,000 pairs of counterfeit Christian Louboutin shoes with an estimated domestic value of $57,490, it was announced today.

The most recent seizure was made Tuesday cheap rayban sunglasses, according to Jaime Ruiz of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.The 20,457 pairs of counterfeit shoes had an "estimated manufacturer's suggested retail price" of $18 million, Ruiz said."Worn by celebrities and royalty in the fashion world, the lacquered red sole in (the) shoes is a distinctive symbol of famous French designer Christian Louboutin," Ruiz said in a statement."However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection specialists have a different view of the lacquered red sole http://www.christianlouboutinsusany.com," Ruiz said. "They see a trademark protected by U.S. law."

 

Counterfeit Christian Louboutins Confiscated from China Source Worth $18 Million

• LONG BEACH -- Authorities at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport complex seized five shipments from C

Louis Ardovino grew up in a large Italian family full of entrepreneurs, and so he knew from a very early age that he wanted to start his own business. Red Bottom Shoes

 

“I’ve got a lot of uncles and they all owned their own business, so when I got out of high school I started jumping from uncle to uncle until I found something I wanted to do,” Ardovino said.

 

After considering hydraulics, sign painting, metal fabricating, and Baskin Robbins – Ardovino apprenticed at his Uncle Morris Princiotta’s shoe repair shop.  Here he found his niche.

 

“I knew I wanted to be able to open my own business as quickly as I could,” told Ardovino. “And in shoe repair, every day is different. Some days you have shoes that are nothing but trouble and other days you just fly through them.”

 

Turn your sign upside down Christian Louboutin Asteroid 140mm Turquoise

Ardovino has been in business since 1986. He started out as Oxmoor Shoe Repair on the west side of Homewood. After staying there for eight years, he moved his shop to Eastwood Mall for a year.  In Eastwood Mall, Ardovino shared a building with Village Cleaners. At the time his business was called Village Shoe Repair, but people walked straight to the dry cleaners and paid no attention to his shop.

 

“One day a guy came in and told me to turn my sign upside down if I wanted more business. I thought he was crazy, but a few weeks later I realized I had nothing to lose, so I tried it and it worked http://www.monsterbeatsstudiostore.com/upimage/original/monster-beats-by-dr-dre201112010438195180_s.jpg!” Ardovino recounted.

 

In 1996 www.redbottomshoesatstores.com, when he found his current location on the west side of Homewood, Ardovino changed the name of his business to Upside Down Shoe Repair.

 

Princiotta, the uncle that taught him the trade is now retired www.canadagooseny.com, but occasionally comes in the shop to help Ardovino. Upside Down Shoe Repair works mostly on designer dress shoes. “The more expensive shoes do pay off in the long run because you can keep them for a long time,” said Ardovino.

 

Tools to get the job done

 

Ardovino uses several different machines for his work, most of which have seldom changed in the past fifty years.

 

“There have been almost no new inventions for shoe repair in decades. The only new inventions have been on the part of the manufacturer to make it as difficult as possible to repair.”

 

One of Ardovino’s favorite pieces of machinery is an old pedal-powered Singer sewing machine. “I like using the Singer because you have more control with the pedal than with an electric motor sewing machines. I think it was made sometime in the 50s,” he recalled.

 

One example of manufacturers making shoes harder to repair is that they have begun making shoes with molded soles. This is when the sole comes up around the sides of the shoes. These can rarely be fixed.

 

“My favorite types of shoes to repair are men’s dress shoes Alden and Allen Edmonds,” Ardovino said. “They’re made very well, they last a long time, and easy to fix because they’re put together so well.”

 

Recently Ardovino’s shop has begun outfitting with the Christian Louboutin red sole shoes guards for high heels. “People don’t realize the red on the bottom of the shoe is just paint. They get upset when it wears off because they’re expensive,” said Ardovino.

 

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