Baltimore punk band files suit against Old Navy
From the New York Post:
August 9, 2006 — OLD Navy had better go to battle stations. A Baltimore punk band, Oxes, claims the kitschy clothing chain owned by Gap Inc. ripped off one of its concert fliers to use on a T-shirt sold in Old Navy stores. “This is indefensible,” said lawyer Carmen Giordano, who’s filing a trademark infringement suit in Manhattan federal court today on behalf of Oxes, who have opened for Cheap Trick and the Breeders. “Old Navy has exploited their hard-edged image. The connection is completely contrary to their fiercely anti-establishment philosophy . . . and sullies their image.” Old Navy did not return our call.
Here’s what the t-shirt in question looks like and here’s The Oxes’ Myspace page.
One trend popping up over the past year in fashion is “rocker chic”. From Dolce & Gabbana to, well, Old Navy, you’ve seen rock-inspired apparel. The problem with being a mass market retailer trying to co-opt a rock or punk aesthetic is credibility. There is a fine line between something that is authentic and something that is not. In this case, an Old Navy designer may have gone too far when going for the punk/rock look by lifting directly from a flier or using a band’s name that would give it an authentic feel.
This case was brought up a few months ago on one forum I read. I haven’t seen solid proof, one way or another, whether this design is exactly from a flier that promoted this band’s show or even influenced by an actual show they did play. But that doesn’t stop them from having to protect their brand identity. Bands, at all levels, need to be cognisant of their brand identity. And, at the end of the day, it will garner them some publicity, which is always a good thing.
It remains to be seen whether Old Navy can be directly held responsible for the design. In a rumored past case involving design infringment on an Old Navy t-shirt, it was the designer from a third party company that was held responsible for the offending design. In their contract with Old Navy, Old Navy was cleared of any possible liability for their designs.
More coverage from Punknews.org.
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I really dont understand why Old Navy did this. It’s not like it would have been hard to come up with a fake band name/flier/whatever that would have been just as successful from a design standpoint, while not exposing themselves to legal action or negative press. Also, the design is horrible- I want to know who the art director is that greenlighted this, it’s awful. The whole thing just doesn’t make any sense to me.
I don’t know much about the production process for the graphic t-shirts they have, but Old Navy, more than most retailers in the marketplace, seems to really be all over the place with their graphic t’s, design wise. Abercrombe & Fitch and American Eagle seem to have pretty strict design standards for their t-shirts, and they all seem to fall in the same design aesthetic. But when it comes to Old Navy, their stuff is so wildly all over the place, with some of it being really good but some of it being really bad.
Maybe this is just another symptom of the greater problem with Old Navy - lack of quality control.