The Renaissance developed these labels into an exaggerated ornate skirt and named it the tonneler.
The amazing thing, though, was the mushrooming of small labels into business empires.
Independents accused Apple of trying to railroad smaller labels into signing licensing deals.
Music-lovers were already sharing favourite tracks online with impunity, sending the big labels into a spin.
Before the change the labels had controlled as separate parts of the RCA/Jive Label Group, but this reorganization effectively folds Jive and its subsidiary labels into RCA.
The industry has changed from an art-house business run by the founders of labels into a corporate enterprise run by managers.
All this has raised concerns that Mr Arnault may be overstretching himself, and that his predatory reputation may end up driving independent labels into rivals' arms.
But now, it seems Gaye's estate are pursuing post-trial injunctions and looking to also bring TI and the record labels into the copyright fray.
For several years in the 1990's, the name nearly disappeared as retailers started stitching their own labels into the shoes.
Manufacturers choose to save a few pennies on equipment by molding the labels into plastic cases rather than applying labels to the case.
Seeding new or long-established designer labels into the street style mix "is a new way of doing PR," said Daniel Saynt, a partner in a year-old agency that negotiates deals between brands and tastemakers.
