A small Aboriginal fashion brand based out of Melbourne has been ordered to rebrand after a two-year legal dispute with American fashion giant Gap Inc. over the use of the word ‘gap’ in their name.
Clothing the Gap says their name was a reference to the Australian health initiative focused on closing the gap between Australian and First Nation people, but a judge ultimately found that there was “contextual confusion” and “deceptive similarity”, and ordered them to rebrand.
Clothing the Gap will rebrand as Clothing the GAPS from 31 July and has until that date to sell all of their existing merchandise.