Herve Leger Sues Stretta in Trade Dress Lawsuit
Trade dress infringement getting on BCBG’s last HERVE. ( Herve Leger that is) Talk about messing with a bigwig, Stretta Moda, a clothing line sold through various retailers, Revolve and Devine just to name a few, has been manufacturing precisely the same style Trade dress as originally manufactured by Herve Leger Bandage Dress. Since, the early 90′s Herve Leger (now owned by BCBG MaxAzria) has continuously featured their unique Trade Dress known as the “Bandage Dress” in their seasonal fashion shows (worn by many celebs singer Cassie is featured to the left). Unfortunately, since 2010 Stretta Apparel has been copying the “Bandage Dress” style strap dress. On March 12 in Central District court of California BCBG filed a lawsuit that 
claims severe financial damages due to Trade Dress infringement and dilution. (complaint below)
Herve Leger Bandage dress is characterized as the “bandage dress” with 3 prominent NON-FUNCTIONAL features 1) bands of fabric, 2) arranged in horizontal and/or diagonal patterns, 3) to form the tight-fitting dress with an overall look that accentuates the female form.
To steal some of BCBG’s popularity Stretta Moda employed a type of “leak” campaign where by Stretta described their products to the public as made in the same factories as authentic Herve Leger dresses are made in. In other words, Stretta has falsely advertised, in the context of interstate commerce, that its Herve Leger knock-offs are virtually the same as authentic Herve Leger garments—the one difference being the lower Stretta price and low quality fabric.
Shockingly I found reputable retailers selling the poor quality Stella goods… take a look for yourself. Looks like cheap polyester can fool the best of them!
Revolve Clothing http://www.revolveclothing.com
Shop Divine http://www.shopdivine.com
To shop for the real Herve Leger Bandage Dress please visit the following sites: (btw I do not make a profit from referring you to these sites)
The Outnet.com http://www.theoutnet.com
Neiman Marcus http://www.neimanmarcus.com
Bcbg Max Azria v Stretta Trade Dress Infringement Complaint Fashion Law
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I’ve never bought Stretta dresses, but I down own authentic Herve Leger dresses. But if Max Azria is trying to trademark the ‘Bandage Dress’ so nobody else can make the design, then he needs to get over himself because it’s bloody ridiculous. Also, Stretta do not use the same fabric as Herve Leger dresses- their dresses are made from 85% Rayon and 25% Nylon- versus Herve Leger’s usual fabric content of 90% Rayon, 9% Nylon and 1% Elastane. Max Azria did NOT invent the bandage dress- he bought the company in 1997 from Herve Leger himself and then relaunched the company in 2007. Bandage dresses were wildly popular in the late 1980′s and even more popular in the 1990′s, and BOTH were popularized not only by Herve Leger, but also Azzedine Alaia. So for Max Azria to try and claim that ‘bandage style’ is unique to his brand and try to(what it sounds like he’s trying) to ban others from using the banding/bandage style on dresses is a joke. To me, I can spot the difference between Stretta and Herve Leger quite easily just by looking at pictures- Stretta’s dresses don’t have the same cuts and it’s quite easy to tell that the fabric is thinner and probably not as high quality as Herve Leger dresses. BUT for Stretta to employ a ‘leak’ campaign that alleges that their dresses are made in the same factories as Herve Leger dresses and that is found to be false, then that is pretty low. However, in all honestly, in the world of fashion who knows… Both of these brands are made in China( as are many other bandage designs) and of course, if Stretta’s claim did prove do be found true, then that wouldn’t really be the best look for Herve Leger, whose dresses retail at fair bit more than Stretta’s do.
Stretta is not the first brand to experiement/ launch bandage dresses/ and ones which are very similar- various top designer labels have also done so- Proenza Schouler, Armani Exchange and Karen Millen to name a few and in my opinion, sometimes the other brands provide nicer designers and the quality is near or just as good as Herve Leger.
Fashion ALWAYS repeats itself- just look the past year’s fashion- there’s been a huge throwback to the 50′s, 60′s and 70′s. Basically most of the designs exremely similar or the same to what my grandmother wore when she was young. So sometimes perhaps before some designers start having a go at other designers, they should look at themselves first.
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I knew this would happen at some point. Good for Herve Leger/BCBG taking this to court. I thought of Herve Leger right away when Stretta launched… what a complete copy. The Design Director and Co-Founder for Stretta had even uploaded a picture last year (via FB) pictured at their own studio with a Herve Leger store bag that was seen on the floor in the background. When I saw it, I was like, yep… it totally reaffirmed my initial thought of the brand… another wannabe. Shame on Stretta.
oh please! Bebe makes the same exact style dress! Why isn’t BCBG going after Bebe?? I serioursly dobyt Stretta has hurt BCBG’s sales in comparison to Bebe. This is crazy.
Can some one explain me why BCBG went after Stretta and not after BEBE, Guess, Marciano, For ever 21, and many other brands that produce the same kind of dress? I have seen this style in many other stores.
Look at Gucci that just lost copy rights agains Guess, of course it took them a 7 seven years bottle.
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