Who's Suing Who in Fashion
In 2007, Old Navy hired designer Todd Oldham as creative director. Since then, the two "Olds" have been duking it out.
Todd Oldham's happy-go-lucky colored stripes have graced the sofas of La -Z-Boy and hit the shelves of Target in dorm form. When Gap Inc. hired him, the plan was to revive the struggling Old Skeevy by designing for 20-somethings rather than families, then eventually launch a collection for the chain under Oldham's own name.
Todd Oldham's trademark line never came to fruition. So Oldham grabbed the lawyers of his design company called L-& Designs Inc. and was like, "whats up Old Navy? Im suing you." Then Old Navy was like "Oh yea, were terminating this agreement." Then Oldham and his posse was all like "See you in court bitches! I'll be the guy in the tropical-fruit stripe suit!"
The court date came and good ol' judge Denny Chin ruled that Old Navy made an effort to appease Oldham and threw the suit out.
“Moreover, L-7 was making extraordinarily high demands,” Chin wrote. “At one point during the discussions, L-7 demanded (through outside counsel) $75 million in compensation for lost royalties and reputational damages. It later demanded a minimum guarantee of $37.5 million in royalties for a three-year-term, which it then later reduced to $20 million for a two-year term.…It is not surprising that Old Navy resisted these demands.” Chin told WWD.
Todd Oldham is filing for an appeal.
Finally, if you missed the Todd Oldham for Target collection of home decor launched in 2002, it seems the retailer is still up to its ass in "Butterfly Topiary's" and "Pitchers of Cheer." You can still buy these items online.
Photo: Target.com
