Denim Company Wants $70.4 Million from Fashion Nova for Copycat Jeans
A California denim maker says Fashion Nova ripped off its jeans, selling “counterfeit exact replicas,” according to a new lawsuit filed against the fast-fashion retailer.
Huge U.S.A., Inc., which operates under the brand Vibrant M.I.U., previously partnered with Fashion Nova to produce the retailer’s popular jeans for nearly a decade. But according to the complaint filed this week in Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles, on behalf of the denim company, Fashion Nova took its designs to a third party manufacturer to create cheaper versions of their jeans to undercut Vibrant’s sales.
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The suit claims that Fashion Nova continues to sell replicas of Vibrant’s designs, including its P88 jeans which went viral after Kylie Jenner posted a photo wearing them on her Instagram account. Vibrant says Fashion Nova incorporated its original style numbers—such as P88—into the pairs of fake jeans, “blurring the distinction between Vibrant’s authentic products and Fashion Nova’s knockoffs.”
Vibrant also accused Fashion Nova of using deceptive search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to manipulate consumers and exploit Vibrant’s reputation in promotion of their counterfeit items. The denim maker said Fashion Nova strategically enhanced the visibility of its jeans by targeting retailers and consumers searching for specific Vibrant style numbers.
Vibrant, which offers a selection of 17 jeans styles in three to five color options, said its jeans were a driving factor behind the success of Fashion Nova, which generates some $2 billion in annual sales, according to Forbes.
According to the suit, Vibrant said Fashion Nova’s copycat jeans have created confusion in the marketplace and damaged Vibrant’s business and reputation. As a result, the company requested an injunction to halt Fashion Nova’s sales of the jeans in question, as well as compensatory damages of no less than $70.4 million.
This isn’t the first time Fashion Nova has run afoul of the law. Last year, the company was sued by Adidas for allegedly infringing on its Stan Smith sneaker trade dress. Adidas also filed suit against Fashion Nova in 2019, saying the company “actively and intentionally” infringed on its three-stripe trademark.
In January 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ruled that Fashion Nova would be required to pay $4.2 million for misrepresenting shopper sentiments about its apparel and accessories, less than a year after the FTC sent out more than $6.5 million in payments to customers affected by unmet promises of fast shipping. And in 2021, Fashion Nova settled a trademark dispute with Playboy over its bunny costumes.
