Fashion brand hit with £2.1m payout in US court case

Manchester online fashion brand Missguided has been hit with damages worth more than £2m in a row with US media personality Kim Kardashian-West.

A US court has awarded her $2.7m in damages after she accused Missuided USA of ripping off her outfits.

She claimed that the company was using her name to sell clothes and was “notorious” for “knocking off” designer items that she wore.

Missguided did not defend itself.

The company, which was founded as an online women’s fashion business in 2009 by Nitin Passi, has also been banned from using Kim Kardashian-West’s “trademarks in connection with the sale, marketing or distribution of its products”.

The reality star has spoken out before about how, when she’s pictured in a dress, almost-identical designs will appear on fast fashion sites within hours.

She is known for wearing clothes by some of the highest profile designers in the world – including her husband Kanye West.

In one instance, hours after Kardashian-West posted an image of her wearing a gold dress designed by Kanye on Instagram, the company put up a photo of a model in a similar dress with the caption: “The devil works hard but Missguided works harder.”

In the lawsuit Kim Kardashian-West said Missguided USA doesn’t just “replicate the looks of celebrities” but “systematically uses the names and image” of stars to promote its website.

In February, the star spoke out against fast fashion companies who she claimed ripped off the hard work and original ideas of “true designers”.

In a statement, Missguided said: “We note the view of the California Court. The legal process has not yet reached a conclusion.”

In January this year Missguided was among several North West fashion companies who were criticised by MPs over their ‘failure’ to commit to reducing their environmental and social impact.

Bury-based JD Sports and Manchester firms Boohoo and Missguided were among a number of firms named in a report looking into sustainable fashion and labour market initiatives by the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC).

The EAC said it was “shocking” the firms were “failing to take action”.

The inquiry was prompted by the popularity of “fast fashion … cheap clothing, with quick turnover that encourages repurchasing”.

Missguided also revealed in the same month that it had seen annual losses significantly worsen after an “extremely challenging year”.

The company said it had made a £46m pre-tax loss for the year to April 1, 2018, compared with £1.6m the previous year, in accounts filed with Companies House.

However, it added that it anticipated “returning to historic levels of profitability in the current year”.