Kim Kardashian is taking legal action against a fast-fashion company she said has been turning a profit using her likeness.
The reality star filed a complaint against U.K.-based retailer Missguided in California federal court on Wednesday. The suit claims that the brand has “repeatedly used Kardashian’s name and image without authorization to generate interest in their brand and website, and to elicit sales of their products.”
Kardashian is seeking no less than $10 million in restitution for “violation of statutory right of publicity, violation of common law right of publicity, false designation of origin, trademark infringement, common law trademark infringement.”
In the suit, the 38-year-old specifically cites a now-deleted Instagram post allegedly made by Missguided on Feb. 8. Just hours after Kardashian posted an image on the site of herself in a gold Yeezy dress — with the tongue-in-cheek caption “fast fashion brands, can you please wait until I wear this in real life before you knock it off” — Missguided shared a photo of a model in a similar gold dress, captioning the image: “The devil works hard but Missguided works harder. @kimkardashian, you’ve only got a few days before this drops online.”
Kardashian argues in the suit that the alleged unauthorized use of her likeness leads fans to falsely believe fast-fashion brands have a relationship with her. (Fashion industry watchdog Diet Prada speculated as to whether Missguided was in cahoots with her in a Feb. 8 Instagram post.)
The “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star and her family have long been the target of fast-fashion knockoffs. This summer, Fashion Nova re-created Kylie Jenner’s 21st birthday looks within hours of her highly publicized celebration — but the influencer indeed works with the brand, reportedly earning hundreds of thousands of dollars per sponsored social media post.
After Kardashian attended the Hollywood Beauty Awards Sunday night in a Thierry Mugler design, Fashion Nova made headlines when it put up a waitlist for a similar dress of its own design.
The mother of three described her frustrations in a series of tweets, writing: “It’s devastating to see these fashion companies rip off designs that have taken the blood, sweat and tears of true designers who have put their all into their own original ideas.”
“I often plan for weeks, sometimes months, and even a year in advance, and I’m grateful for every fashion moment those designers and their dresses have helped me create,” she continued. “I don’t have any relationships with these sites. I’m not leaking my looks to anyone, and I don’t support what these companies are doing.”
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