NEW YORK — BBC Ice Cream LLC, musician and producer Pharrell Williams’ apparel and footwear brand, has filed suit against Reebok International, accusing the sneaker giant of breach of contract and seeking damages in excess of $4 million.
In a complaint filed in Manhattan Federal Court on Dec. 17, BBC, which stands for Billionaire Boys Club, accused Reebok of violations on three counts of breach of contract relating to an apparel licensing agreement reached between the two companies in October 2003.
According to the complaint, Reebok failed to produce any apparel products meeting BBC’s approval standards and also failed to ship a representative apparel line by a June 1, 2004 deadline. BBC is asking for no less than $1.6 million on each of the three counts.
A Reebok spokesman said the company does not comment on pending legal matters.
The complaint said that on Oct. 1, 2003, the two companies signed a licensing agreement allowing Reebok to use the BBC trademarks on a range of items, including shirts, pants, sweatshirts and accessories.
“Reebok signed the agreement as of Oct. 1, 2003, but failed to distribute for sale — much less sell — one stitch of apparel,” said BBC in the complaint.
According to BBC, problems arose shortly after the agreement was signed. “In January 2004, only a few months after the execution of the agreement…certain Reebok personnel began to acknowledge to BBC that Reebok could not adequately produce the full range of Licensed Products…in a manner consistent with the design and quality standards and specifications required by BBC,” said the complaint.
Sample items presented to BBC by Reebok during the spring of 2004 were deemed to be substandard by BBC. “Reebok repeatedly assured BBC that the nonconforming and disapproved aspects of these samples would be corrected,” said the complaint. “Reebok, however, failed to correct these deficiencies.”
Williams debuted the Billionaire Boys Club apparel and Ice Cream footwear lines, both licensed by Reebok, at a press conference held in Manhattan in late August.
At the time, the collections were to have limited global distribution beginning in mid-September, selling at stores such as Alife in New York, Fred Segal in Los Angeles and Colette in Paris. Only 30 stores in total were to carry the products. Women’s footwear was slated to be introduced early this year.
Related Articles
You May Also Like
“This is not based on being an entertainer — this line is a childhood dream of mine,” Williams said at the press conference. “The line doesn’t say Pharrell on it, and the goal for this collection is exclusivity.”