Law & Fashion ?

September 18th, 2006

Call me article happy these days, but I have to vent on another recent article I read pertaining to the fashion industry. It covered a developing story of a high-end L.A. boutique, kitson, suing Us Weekly magazine for not mentioning the name of the boutique in the mag. Kitson claims that the magazine even goes so far as cropping the name of the boutique out of photos of celebs either carrying their bags or leaving the store. I kept waiting for a reason why as to why the boutique would sue the magazine on the sole basis that they did not go out of their way to feature the store, only to find out that there is no real reason. It said something about a prior lawsuit, but did not say how long ago that suit was brought on or what for. lawsuit Now, we have all heard of the nasty paparazzi and the things they will do to get even or get their shot, but to shun a boutique? It seems a little extreme to me and even if the magazine is shunning them, why is that a reason to sue? The ultra-exclusive boutique claims to have lost an estimated $10,000 per week as a result of not being mentioned in the magazine. I wonder how they even came up with that number. How can a business gauge what they might have made had their name been published in a magazine that week. It is ridiculous to me! Funny thing is that when you go to their website, they reference Us Weekly. Hmmm. Who needs who exactly? Looks like the boutique had been banking on being mentioned in the mag and now they are hurting. I say hurting of course with the most liberal meaning. Like a boutique that regularly makes trips across the country to keep up on the hottest trends and caters to multi-millionaires will be going bankrupt anytime soon. And, I think the boutique may just be getting greedy. They were plugged on the Today show just this last week. That must not have been enough exposure for them. I am wondering what the faithful celeb shoppers will do once word of the pathetic lawsuit spreads like wildfire across L.A. That paired with the fact that with all of this recent exposure, kitson will no longer be a boutique exclusive to the celebrity world. The A-listers might just go elsewhere for their Juicy Couture sweats, designer handbags, and Michael Kors (love him!) wedges.