US clothing brand threatens London company 'Brixton Streetwear' with legal action over name
5 September 2024, 16:59 | Updated: 6 September 2024, 07:44
A south London fashion brand regarded as a 'community hub' are facing legal action from a US company over the use of the word 'Brixton'.
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Brixton Streetwear was founded by brothers Daniel O'Connell and Pete Adams - both of whom are also taxi drivers, vwith the pair working on the brand in their spare time.
However, the pair now say they received a legal letter from Brixton LLC, a California-based 'lifestyle brand', demanding the company stop operating under the name Brixton.
Brixton Streetwear founder Mr Adams says that if the brand is unable to raise the required money through a recently set-up GoFundMe page, the future of their business 'looks uncertain'.
"If we can't reach the target to fund it, we don't know the outcome," he said.
It's the latest David vs. Goliath story of a giant cooperation attempting to sue smaller businesses over its name.
In March 2020, comedian Joe Lycett legally changed his name to that of German luxury designer Hugo Boss after the brand used trademark claims to target small businesses and charities who use "boss" in their branding.
Taking to Instagram, the brand shared the news in a clip with their 13.7k followers under the title 'Save Brixton Street Wear'.
The caption read: "Please help us to raise awareness... Our sole purpose at Brixton Street Wear is to Give Back to the Community and now someone wants to take it away from all of us 😢"
In response to the threats of legal action, the duo have started a GoFundMe page to raise funds for their legal battle.
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Legal disputes over names and trademarks are known to be costly, with the local clothing company hoping to raise £20,000.
To-date the brand has raised £5,500 - over a quarter of their goal.
The brothers say they will donate all the money to local charities if they don't meet the goal. Without the full sum, the legal battle will be too costly to continue.
Pete Adams, one of the shop founders, told LBC that the community support has been "unbelievable".
The brothers were so moved by the reaction to their fight that they gave their logo a new meaning.
Mr Adams said they have changed the meaning behind the letters in the centre of the logo that reads 'DOC.' Originally meant to represent Mr O'Connell's name, the letters now mean "definition of community."
He said that the two men never set out to be a clothing brand but '"started helping [their] community" during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
"We're both London taxi drivers; we're serving the city," Mr Adams continued
"The brand is just doing its thing, helping the community. On Tuesday night we hosted a free comedy show in front of the shop.”
Mr Adams added he was now also concerned about other businesses named after the area.
"Brixton is there for everyone and there are 600 companies locally that use the name.
"We just donated £500 to Brixton Street Gym, and they've got t-shirts; what's going to happen to them?
“Brixton Soup Kitchen, Brixton Orchestra, they all use t-shirts to raise funds."
Not everyone is as concerned. Jake, who owns a bespoke picture frame company called Brixton Framers said he was not concerned at all about a name change.
"We're quite niche, so no we're not concerned," he said.
Brixton LLC have been contacted for comment.
