Kim Kardashian wins £2.1 million in damages from Missguided USA in fast fashion lawsuit
Kim Kardashian has successfully sued Missguided USA for $2.7 million (£2.1 million).
The entrepreneur and ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ star won the multi-million sum in damages, plus a further $60,000 (£47,682) for lawyer fees, from the fast fashion retailer.
She had originally sought damages of more than $10 million, after accusing Missguided of using her name and image to sell budget copies of outfits she had worn.
“Missguided has repeatedly used Kardashian's name and likeness without permission on its social media platforms to promote the sale of its clothing,” said the judge in the court ruling, according to US publication TMZ.
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Kardashian was awarded the damages “by default”, as Missguided – a company first established in Manchester in 2009 by businessman Nitin Passi – did not respond to the lawsuit.
The 38-year-old first filed a lawsuit against the company in February, days after she called it out for selling outfits which are near-identical to her husband Kanye West’s Yeezy designs.
Sharing an image of herself wearing a Yeezy look, she asked “fast fashion brands” to wait until she wore it before they copied it.
Going through old fitting pics & found this gold look that Kanye made for me for my Miami trip last summer (I went w the neon vibes instead) P.S. fast fashion brands, can you please wait until I wear this in real life before you knock it off? 😂 pic.twitter.com/MZiGLmC0yI
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) February 8, 2019
Also in February this year, Kardashian posted a thread on Twitter in which she called out fashion companies for “profiting” from West’s designs and from the “blood, swear and tears” of other designers she wore.
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.
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) February 19, 2019
In the thread, she referenced a vintage Thierry Mugler dress she had worn during the same month – incidentally one of her most revealing ever looks – which sparked fast fashion brands to produce imitations within days.
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In an interview on model Ashley Graham’s podcast, ‘Pretty Big Deal’, Kardashian also complained about her outfits being “remade and sold”.
She detailed an incident where the Barbie-inspired dresses designed for her and her half-sister, Kylie Jenner, by West, for Jenner’s 21st were copied shortly after they had been worn.
“Mine and Kylie’s [outfits] were remade by a few different people days after,” she told Graham, adding: “A lot of them are Yeezy influenced”.
But it’s not just a case of duplicate designs. The company has previously used images of Kardashian to promote its designs, and has previously tagged her in Instagram posts advertising their clothing, according to Page Six.
Missguided is now banned from using Kardashian’s trademarks, including her image and name, is order to promote its products.
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This has been a busy week for Kardashian, who earlier this week announced that she was changing the name of her ill-fated “Kimono” shapewear brand amid mounting pressure from the Japanese community, who had accused her of cultural appropriation.
Even the Japanese government had become involved – with Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko announcing he will be sending patent executives to the US Patent and Trademark Office next week to discuss the row.