Up and coming womenswear brand KAI Collective, claims that fast fashion giant Boohoo.com has unlawfully infringed on their copyright.

KAI Collective’s owner and creative director Fisayo Longe said:

“In July 2019, after nearly three years, I decided to design very unique prints to differentiate Kai and build a stronger brand identity. I collaborated with Grapes Pattern Bank, and that was how the print, now known as Gaia, came to life. Boohoo has since launched its own Gaia rip-off. Led by Mahmud Kamani, a billionaire, the Boohoo group owns Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing and others.

As many have complained, they often appropriate designs from small independent brands. Boohoo has gone as far as to copy our print almost identically. That is unacceptable.

Seeing how much Gaia was being imitated, I obtained design registration in the UK and EU, with US copyright pending.

They will not profit illegally off, of our intellectual property and most certainly not with a print that we have legally protected.

Business practices that line the pockets of a billionaire businessman and his sons off, of the ideas, struggles, sacrifice and pure hard work of young black female designers are racist and sexist. You are exploiting and economically disempowering us.

We have already spent thousands in legal costs at this stage and it’s easy to see why small brands don’t bother defending themselves – it’s unaffordable!

However, after years of graft, we refuse to be stolen from in this way, and we take reputational damage very seriously. I advise Boohoo to do the right thing and stop selling their copies of our print, and pay us”.

KAI Collective has sent Boohoo a Cease & Desist letter and is demanding £30,000 in damages plus legal fees.