A fashion war is heating up in Kansas City.
Kansas City Fashion Week, LLC, a Missouri event company which puts on two weeks of runway shows each year, has sued fellow local event organizer, Kansas City Fashion, LLC, for trademark infringement.
Calling the similarly named upstart a “knockoff,” Kansas City Fashion Week’s lawsuit accuses Kansas City Fashion and its co-founder Jordan Gallant of using a deceptively similar name to confuse consumers and benefit from the former’s 13-year history in the so-called BBQ Capital of the World.
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Kansas City Fashion, which refers to itself as “the largest and most popular fashion community in the Midwest” was founded in 2021 by Gallant and John Duncan. The organization plans, manages and hosts fashion shows in Kansas City.
Founded in 2010, Kansas City Fashion Week manages twice-yearly fashion weeks in September and March. The organization was selected to be part of the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s (CFDA) CFDA Connects, a programming network that supports regional fashion weeks and organizations.
In its lawsuit, Kansas City Fashion Week stated that Kansas City Fashion has unlawfully used the former’s trademarked name and marketed its events in a way to confuse consumers. Kansas City Fashion Week pointed to two similar instagram posts for holiday events posted on Instagram in 2021. The newer company also prominently features an image of the city’s Union Station on its website, which is where Kansas City Fashion Week has been located.
According to the legal complaint, in September 2022, Kansas City Fashion Week sent a cease-and-desist letter to Gallant, demanding his company stop using similar language and imagery. That letter was ignored.
Kansas City Fashion Week stated in the suit that it aims to halt Gallant from continuing to use the name Kansas City Fashion and similar marketing language and materials to promote his events to the same audience.
“These intentionally confusing marketing activities have caused actual consumer confusion and leads consumers to mistakenly associate Kansas City Fashion events with Kansas City Fashion Week events, all to the benefit of Kansas City Fashion and the detriment of Kansas City Fashion Week,” the suit said.
