Greensboro T-shirt firm fires back in court fight with preppy retailer Vineyard Vines

What’s in a label?

Plenty, according to Vineyard Vines, and the high-end casual clothier appears ready to go to court to prove it.

The company has filed suit against another well-known fashion retailer, Greensboro-based Dazzle Up, claiming that a label on some of the company’s T-shirts bears a striking – and illegal – resemblance to Vineyard Vines’ own.

Both clothing companies have a large retail footprint in the Carolinas. Vineyard Vines has its own store in SouthPark Mall, and its clothing line hangs on the rack at Belk, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdales, among other stores. The Connecticut-based company also sells online.

Likewise, Dazzle Up operates retail shops at Carolina Place and Northlake malls, Concord Mills, as well as locations across both Carolinas.

Their legal fight focuses on a label that appears on the back of at least some of the products in Dazzle Up’s “simply southern” T-shirt line.

The phrase appears in a lower-cased serif font. So does Vineyard Vines’ 20-year-old brand.

The Dazzle Up lettering is set against a pink backdrop with a thin white border. Likewise Vineyard Vines, though its pink appears a shade or two darker.

Close enough, Vineyard Vines claims in a federal complaint filed last week by Charlotte attorney Larry Jones.

The suit accuses Dazzle Up of federal trade infringement, unfair competition and a violating North Carolina’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Vineyard Vines has asked for a jury trial.

On Wednesday, Dazzle Up’s lawyer called the lawsuit unfounded. Greensboro lawyer David Sar also said Vineyard Vines has not received government trademark and patent approval for its label.

“Incredibly, Vineyard Vines claims ... that it alone has the right to use a pink or blue rectangle,” Sar said in a statement. “Yet Vinevard Vines fails to claim that anyone has actually confused a Simple Southern rectangle with a Vineyard Vines rectangle.”

That’s not surprising, he said, since “each company’s respective brand name is right there and hard to miss.”

Dazzle Up, which started selling T-shirts from a kiosk in a mall, will open its 13th retail store next week, said Sar. The company’s Simply Southern line and other products appear in about 3,000 stores across the country.

Jones said Vineyard Vines has had “previous grievances” with Dazzle Up before. The latest, which spurred the suit, was discovered in February.

“There is absolutely no legitimate reason for Simply Southern or Dazzle Up to mimic the appearance of our label and then put it so prominently on their products,” Jones said.

Vineyard Vines’ logo, he says, is the company’s core image, which places it at the center of Vineyard Vines’ relationship with its customers.

If other people use it or a facsimile, “You destroy the essence of branding merchandise which is if I buy this product, I know where it comes from,” Jones said.

In the complaint, Jones accuses Dazzle Up of attempting to confuse or deceive the public into thinking that it’s buying the Vineyard Vines brand.

In its complaint, Vineyard Vines has asked that a jury set appropriate losses and damages in the case.

It also asks the courts to stop Dazzle Up from using the disputed label for future products and promotions. And, it wants all the disputed merchandize turned over to Vineyard Vines so it can be destroyed.

Asked to estimate his client’s losses in this case, Jones said he couldn’t say.

“But if someone sticks his hands in your pocket, you’re equally offended if he takes a couple of quarters or a couple of hundred dollar bills,” he said.

This story was originally published March 5, 2018 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Greensboro T-shirt firm fires back in court fight with preppy retailer Vineyard Vines."