Mrs. West isn't playing with the fashion copycats of the world!
Kim Kardashian is fed up with fast-fashion brands using her image to sell their affordable knockoffs of her luxury outfits to the masses. She's already slammed brands multiple times via her social media platforms, but now she's taking her fight straight to the courts.
The beauty mogul and reality star filed a lawsuit against the UK-based Missguided retailer for using her name and image to market its clothes.
Like Fashion Nova, the Missguided brand swiftly posted its replica of her unreleased gold Yeezy dress.
In a now-deleted Instagram post, Missguided shared an image of its own model wearing a knockoff with a message directed at Kardashian in the caption.
"The devil works hard but Missguided works harder. @KimKardashian you’ve only got a few days before this drops online,” the message read.
The post seemed to be all in good fun, but Kardashian clearly didn't take it that way.
On Wednesday, February 20, the Council of Kardashian filed a formal complaint in California federal court, as reported by The Fashion Law.
"While most companies understand and respect [her] right to control and approve any use of her name and likeness in connection with the promotion of products, other companies have sought out ways to leverage her celebrity status and social media following without seeking her consent," the complaint reads.
The documents also accuse some brands of "turning [Kardashian] into an unwitting and unwilling spokesperson of their products."
"Missguided [has] made this sort of unlawful misappropriation of Kardashian’s persona – and that of many other celebrities as well – a cornerstone of their marketing and sales strategy," the document continues.
Kim Kardashian seems to be marking a difference between Missguided and other fast-fashion brands like Fashion Nova based on Missguided's use of her name and photos.
So what is Kardashian demanding from Missguided for her trouble? Unsurprisingly, A LOT.
The mother of four demands "no less than $10 million," based on the fact that brands typically pay her millions for a long-term partnership.
To be fair, Missguided has indeed been doing the most with Kardashian's photos and name.
Missguided didn't just copy the gold Yeezy dress. It also has an entire landing page for customers to shop styles inspired by Kardashian.
The page is called "Crushin' On Kim K," and it's not available for viewing on the US page although it still exists on the UK version of the Missguided website. There is no mistaking that the purpose of the page is to sell clothes using her image. A huge gif sits at the top featuring eight images of Kardashian in different ensembles.
Of course, Missguided has wiped the shoppable products from the landing page since Kardashian filed the lawsuit.
We see what you did there, Missguided.
You can still shop a sultry black midi dress if you search "Kim K" on the US site though.
You gotta be a little more thorough with the erasure, Missguided.
Kim Kardashian suing Missguided is definitely understandable, but it doesn't explain why she isn't being equally as hard on Fashion Nova.
The brand just had to confirm on Instagram that it does not have a partnership with her because it copies her clothes and has used her name on its social media so often that people thought the two were in business. The jury's still out on that alleged secret relationship, by the way.
Like Missguided, Fashion Nova also uses Kardashian's actual image to sell its clothes.
Actual photos of Kim Kardashian are sitting pretty on the Fashion Nova website right now alongside the designs she's worn that the brand hastily knocked off.
Although Fashion Nova doesn't have an official landing page for her, you can search "Kim Kardashian" to find several different items.
Fashion Nova even provides additional search terms including "Kim K" and "Kim K dress." It's no coincidence that the "Kim K Dress" search yields several knockoffs of dresses Kardashian has worn, including the knockoff of the pink Yeezy dress with her photo included in the product lineup.
Kardashian going after Missguided but not Fashion Nova could possibly fuel rumors that the two are actually in business with each other.
Diet Prada sent the internet into a frenzy when it shared images of a Fashion Nova shoot of knockoff Mugler dress that appeared to have been shot four days before Kardashian actually wore the vintage designer version publicly.
Fashion Nova denied Diet Prada's claims with a lengthy response.
“Nice try @diet_prada. Don’t mean to brag but we found out about @KimKardashian in the Mugler dress when the rest of the world did. That’s how fast and talented our team is," the brand responded.
"The 2-14 date is simply the session dated the late time well logged into our photography software. If you look very closely (which we know you did) – the photos themselves of the dress are dated 2-18. We were not tipped off and have no deal with @KimKardashian — and have since issued a public apology for any critical feedback she may have received.”
It is very possible that Fashion Nova's quick apologies and corrective statements could have gotten on Kim Kardashian's good side and helped the brand side-step a lawsuit.
Public apologies do go a long way, and it seems Fashion Nova took a lot of steps to show Kim Kardashian that it doesn't want any trouble with her or her legal team.
The brand never officially posted the Yeezy or Mugler knockoff dresses on its website for sale and removed photos of them from Instagram. Most importantly, Fashion Nova sided with Kardashian's social media statements about not being in business together.
Fashion Nova clearly realized that it got a little overzealous with its fast-fashion practices and wanted to do some fixing.
Meanwhile, Missguided skipped out on an apology and cleared its Instagram of all mentions and photos of Kardashian and took her products off of the page dedicated to her image.
Only time will tell if Kim Kardashian actually goes through with the lawsuit against Missguided and if she actually gets that $10 million.
For Missguided's sake, let's hope the online retailer emerges from this court situation with its business still intact.
