Photo: Rim Daghmash/instagram
A mother from Australia is speaking out after she says the fashion giant behind Kenzo threatened to sue her over the name of her skincare line, Kenz Beauty, which is named after her daughter with autism.
She first shares a photo of LVMH CEO, Bernard Arnault, who she notes is “the wealthiest person on Earth.”
LVMH — which also controls fashion brands Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Fendi and many more — did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
In the video, Daghmash, who also did not immediately respond to a request for comment, then introduces her own brand, Kenz Beauty, “which was named after my autistic daughter Kenzie.”
Sharing her story, Daghmash says after finding out Kenzie has autism a year ago, she quit her full-time job and began Kenz Beauty and “committed myself to her [daughter’s] therapy.”
Daghmash says while going through the trademarking process, she was issued a letter from Kenzo’s legal team that claimed she committed trademark infringement and warned that they would sue.
“Not only did they oppose our trademark registration, but they also threatened us with legal action in the federal court. To avoid this they want us to close down our business and stop using the word ‘Kenz’ in all our products, all our websites and social media,” says Daghmash.
Bernard Arnault.Sergei Karpukhin/TASS via Getty
They requested that she to pull the products right away, Daghmash says.
“As if our small family business is threatening this guy and his multi-million dollar companies,” says Daghmash as a photo of Arnault is displayed. “To me as a small business owner, this is pure bullying and harassment.”
“A 5-year-old will be able to tell the difference between Kenz Beauty and Kenzo,” says Daghmash.
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She then shows a logo of Kenzo and asked “how is this similar to Kenz Beauty? Someone explain to me.”
Forbes officially announced Bernardas the world’s richest person in May of 2021, with an estimated net worth of $186.3 billion — putting him $300 million aboveJeff Bezos, who was worth $186 billion, andElon Musk, worth $147.3 billion at that time.
In a statementto Australia’s Channel Nine, a spokesperson for Kenzo Perfums said “Kenzo is acting worldwide to protect its brand and products in order to avoid any risk of confusion with a third-party brand and, above all, to fight against infringement.”
The spokesperson said “discussions” began with Daghmash “without ever questioning the existence, the values and the functioning of this brand, but simply to avoid any risk of confusion to the public.”
“Discussions are ongoing and we are willing to reach an amicable agreement that will preserve our mutual interests, just as we wish full success to Ms. Daghmash and the action she is achieving via her company,” the spokesperson said in the written statement.
source: people.com
