DKNY? LOL!

So I’m browsing the accessories section at the Nordstrom Rack in San Francisco and I see a display of handbags with a “DKNY” sign on top. Naturally, I expect the merchandise in the display to be from Donna Karan New York.

 

 

Surprise! Those bags in the foreground? They all had this tag:

 

KDNY by Kelsi Dagger. For the dyslexic fashionista?

 

Yes, it’s the 2012 version of Donna Karan’s nightmare.

The difference between DKNY and KDNY isn’t just the order of the initials. DKNY handbags are leather; KDNY’s are “pleather” (technically PU, short for polyurethane). A DKNY bag retails for $300 to $400; a KDNY bag costs about $100.

There are 42 live trademarks for DKNY in the USPTO database, zero for KDNY.

Of course, there are times when you might prefer an inexpensive plastic bag, as my Twitter friend Kevin pointed out.

 

 

Comments

[languageandhumor]

$100 for pleather? Wow.

Thanks for the mention, Nancy.

[Tom Goodwillie]

I usually wish people wouldn't start their posts with "So", but here it was just right.

[Jessica]

Hope Kelsi [sic] has a good lawyer. Actually, not even a good lawyer is going to be of much help here. I'm all for social commentary, but this is infringement, pure and simple.