House of Zana, a fashion retailer based in Darlington, England, has won a trademark battle against Zara after the fast-fashion giant accused the store of being “conceptually identical”.
Zara’s lawsuit said House of Zana, which is run by Amber Kotrri, shares “a high level of visual and linguistic similarities” with the Spanish retailer, which could lead customers to associate the brands with another confound. Julia King, representing Zara, said the Zana name was too similar and could pose a “serious threat” to Zara if the market became crowded with similar brands. However, the court found that the connection was “too insignificant and fleeting”.
Kotrri, who founded her company in 2019, said she named her brand after the Albanian word for “fairies” because her husband is of Albanian origin. Following the verdict, Kotrri said in an Instagram post on the brand’s page: “Thank you everyone for your support. All the kind words of strength, to those who signed our petition, to those who shared the messages and to all the news media who reported on this story.”You all gave me the courage to take on fashion giant Zara and I will forever be grateful to you all.”
This translated and edited post previously appeared on FashionUnited.uk.
