CALIFORNIAN ‘LIFESTYLE BRAND’ THREATENS TO SUE LONDON CLOTHING FIRM OVER NAME

A Californian “lifestyle brand” has threatened to sue a Brixton charitable community hub for using the south London locale in its name.

“Cold-hearted” Brixton LLC, based in Oceanside, south of Los Angeles, has sent a legal letter to Brixton Street Wear demanding it change its name.

The clothing brand is run by brothers Daniel O’Connell and Pete Adams in their spare time as London cab drivers and gives all of its profits to charity.

The brothers say they cannot afford to fund a legal battle which could cost tens of thousands of pounds.

“This is a total headache and we both have young families,” Mr O’Connell told BBC News.

“The letters we have received from the lawyers are so cold-hearted, why can’t they just have a conversation with us?”

Mr Adams added: “It’s really frustrating. How can you own a geographical place?

“There are over 600 companies in Brixton that use the location in their brand name, are you telling me all of them can’t use the name anymore?”

Mr Adams describes Brixton Street Wear as a “community hub” because it reinvests all profits in local charities and youth clubs.

Earlier this year, the company opened a shop for the first time in Brixton Village, an independent market.

The Californian company, Brixton LLC, describes itself as a “lifestyle brand with deep roots in music and a strong point of view on our place in culture”.

It sells jackets, bags and hats for as much as $189 (£144).

Brixton Street Wear sells its most expensive jacket for £159, most expensive bag for £26 and most expensive hat for £30.

“Financially we get nothing from this,” Mr O’Connell said. “We just do this to help out and give back something to the community.”

Mr O’Connell said he was worried that this legal action could “seriously shut us down and stop us supporting the community”.

“We’ve paid for everything ourselves and the only way we can fight this is with community and social media,” he said.

Brixton LLC was approached for comment.

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2024-09-04T10:14:20Z dg43tfdfdgfd