Lululemon’s lawsuit against Costco highlights the rise of fashion ‘dupes’

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS and ANNE D INNOCENZIO AP Business Writers NEW YORK AP Fashion dupes or less expensive versions of high-end clothing and other accessories are just about everywhere these days They re also drawing a few businesses into legal battles In the latest example Lululemon filed a lawsuit against Costco on Friday accusing the wholesale club operator of selling lower-priced duplicates of several of its popular athleisure apparel Across the retail industry it s far from a new phenomenon But social media is pushing the practices of online dupe shopping to new heights as influencers direct their followers to where they can buy the knockoffs Want a taste of Herm s fuzzy slippers Target has a version for Looking for a price Bottega Veneta hobo bag There s a version for on online clothing and accessories upstart Quince which has become a go-to for fashionistas It s not even the first time Lululemon has encountered what it says are knockoffs of its clothing which often carry steep price tags of over each for leggings and sporty zip-ups Without specifying additional sellers beyond Costco in Friday s complaint Lululemon noted that a handful of companies have replicated or copied its apparel to sell cheaper offerings including those popularized online through hashtags like LululemonDupes on TikTok and other social media platforms Dupes aren t new For years companies have rolled out a range of cheaper option for consumers to buy instead of pricey name-brands or designer labels often through retailers house or generic brands Unlike more direct copies of the product with an unauthorized trademark or logo of a patented brand pure dupes that just resemble certain features are generally legitimate They can even spark awareness of the original items But the rising frenzy for dupes particularly in the fashion space signals that plenty of shoppers want a taste of luxury but no longer want to pay for or care about getting the real thing Late last year for example discount chain Walmart created a buzz when it started selling a leather bag online that resembled Herm s coveted Birkin bag The item sold by Kamugo which doesn t appear to have its own website was a fraction of the price of the original which goes from to hundreds of thousands of dollars on resale and auction sites Influencers labeled the leather bag a wirkin Other suppliers including BESTSPR YMTQ and Judy were listed on Walmart s site selling similar totes While popular among shoppers these kind of look-alikes can frustrate the targeted companies Following the viral fame of the wirkin Herm s Executive Chairman Axel Dumas shared his annoyance for example Making a copy like this is quite detestable Dumas reported in a corporate earnings call in February Still he acknowledged that it was quite touching to see so several consumers want a bag with the Birkin style and that difference in quality was still evident noting that nobody bought the dupe thinking it was from Herm s When dupes venture into uncertain legal territory Alexandra Roberts a professor of law and media at Northeastern University explained that the term dupe itself doesn t tell us much about legality noting the word has also been used to describe more traditional counterfeits But overall dupes can move into shaky legal territory including copyright and trademark infringement particularly if a dupe marketer makes false alleges about the duplicate or the original Related Articles Ford recalls more than vehicles over malfunctioning rearview camera Microsoft announces another mass layoff thousands of workers affected Analysis shows Trump s tariffs would cost US employers billion US stocks drift ahead of Thursday s jobs account as Tesla rises Josh Kraft slams Boston Mayor Wu s Mass and Cass plan A clear failure With fashion in particular we re going to get into specific thorny questions Roberts declared That includes what intellectual property rights exist and how enforceable they are she explained and whether there is actual infringement or if a product is just positioning itself as a less expensive alternative Often such disputes boil down trademark questions around consumer confusion or patented product designs Several businesses have already put this to the test but not inevitably successfully In December for example Benefit lost a lawsuit in California over E l f s Lash N Roll mascara which is similar to Benefit s Roller Lash mascara The judge s decision was a resounding win for us E lf CEO Tarang Amin previously recounted The Associated Press The basic reality is we inevitably put our E l f twist on it he reported It s an E l f product that s a much better value FILE An American flag flies outside a Costco Warehouse in Cranberry Pa on March AP Photo Gene J Puskar File Lululemon sues Costco In its lawsuit Lululemon argued that Costco had unlawfully traded on Lululemon s reputation and that it was suing as part of wider intellectual property enforcement directed to retailers who have chosen to copy rather than compete Lululemon accuses Costco of making duplicates of several products including its popular Scuba hoodies Define jackets and ABC pants Lululemon says one of the duplicates that Costco sells is the Hi-Tec Men s Scuba Full Zip with the lawsuit showing a screenshot image of Costco s website showing the item priced at Roberts announced she was a little skeptical of selected of Lululemon s states noting that the design patents in particular could be hard to challenge And she pointed to Lululemon s asserting common law business dress over a triangle kind of shape in the crotch region of the ABC pants My first reaction as a trademark expert is that looks pretty functional she stated and functional matter is not protected under trademark law I was just cracking up because that particular claim seemed really far-fetched to me Those pants look really basic Still Roberts noted that Lululemon had chosen plausible proposes Lululemon alleges that Costco is known to use manufacturers of popular branded products for its private label Kirkland brand although the companies involved don t clearly reveal that information to customers Due to this Lululemon states specific shoppers may believe that Kirkland-branded products are made by the authentic supplier of the original products Roberts noted this could rule in Lululemon s favor as something that weighs toward consumer confusion Still she noted that the bulk of the products Lululemon mentioned in its complaint weren t sold under the Kirkland brand which could undermine the argument A message was left Tuesday seeking comment from Costco on the lawsuit Lululemon detected itself in a similar dispute with Peloton in when it sued the exercise bike company over alleged copycat products in its then-new clothing lines Two years later the companies declared a five-year partnership that included Lululemon becoming the primary athletic apparel partner to Peloton AP Business Writer Michelle Chapman 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