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Warehouse in Jimmy Choo dispute |
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Monday, 12 November 2007 |
In the fashion world, imitation can be a costly form of flattery,
as recently discovered by high street retailer Warehouse. The fast fashion and accessories chain is the latest store group to land itself in the fashion dock for copying one of its designs from a well-known luxury brand. It joins a string of chains from Topshop and Kookaï to Marks & Spencer and Oasis that are costing the designer industry tens of millions of pounds a year in lost sales. Jimmy Choo threatened legal action against Warehouse after it was tipped off that the fashion chain had copied one of its hottest-selling bags of the summer. The £650 clutch, christened the "Marin", was seen in a host of celebrity hands, including those belonging to Victoria Beckham, Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff. Warehouse, which promptly removed the offending black clutch from sale, reached an out-of-court settlement with Jimmy Choo, forcing it to destroy thousands of the bags and pay just under £14,000 in damages and costs to the footwear specialist.
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