Kim Kardashian West, the woman who has built a billion dollar business on the very concept of imitation, has successfully sued Missguided USA for $2.7 million (around £2.1 million) after accusing the clothing brand of copying her outfits. In the lawsuit, Kardashian West also said that Missguided doesn’t simply “replicate the looks of celebrities” but “systematically uses the names and image” of celebrities to sell products.
Missguided posted a picture of a model wearing a gold lame dress on Instagram similar to one that Ms Kardashian West had shown herself wearing. The caption, which tagged the TV and social media star, read: “The devil works hard but Missguided works harder.”
Missguided, which is based in the UK city of Manchester, is one of a number of online retailers that sell cheap trend-led outfits. It is known for promoting clothes on the UK reality TV show Love Island and recently came under fire for selling a £1 black bikini, which critics of fast fashion said was typical of an industry where clothes are worn once and then go to landfill.
In the allegations against Missguided USA, the court filings said that the company had “not only knocked off the clothing of other designers, but it has unabashedly misappropriated the rights of celebrities like Kardashian in selling these knock-offs on its websites”.
Missguided USA did not defend itself against the claim. The parent company is taking legal advice and in a statement said: “We know the view of the Californian court. The legal process has not reached a conclusion.”
Kardashian West has previously spoken out against fast fashion companies such as Missguided on Twitter. In February she wrote: “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.”
Missguided USA was also ordered to pay Ms Kardashian West’s $60,000 legal fees and was prohibited from using the star’s “name, images, likeness, persona, and trademarks”.
