An Australian woman who owns a small business said she is being threatened of legal action by French luxury fashion house Kenzo over the name of her brand. Kenzo is owned by LVMH, the luxury empire belonging to French billionaire Bernard Arnault, the world's richest man.
Rim Daghmash launched Kenz Beauty a year ago and named it after her daughter Kenzie.
“This man here is the wealthiest person on earth,” Daghmash said in a video on TikTok and Instagram, explaining how Kenzo is allegedly trying to threaten her start-up. She said she left her full-time job a year ago after her daughter was diagnosed with autism and committed herself to her child’s therapy.
“I launched this business to tell the world that autistic kids are beautiful. We were inspired by Kenzie’s beauty and we’ve called the business Kenz Beauty. Because autistic kids are beautiful,” Daghmash said.
After Daghmash registered the trademark for Kenz Beauty, she received a letter from Kenzo’s legal team threating them of legal action and accusing them of trademark infringement. Kenzo opposed Kenz Beauty’s trademark registration and wanted all Kenz Beauty products to be pulled immediately.
“The global giant is threatened by a small Australian start-up whose sales combined does not equal one single sale of one product from Louis Vuitton,” Daghmash said.
“To me, as a small-business owner, this is pure bullying and harassment. A five-year-old would be able to tell the difference between Kenz Beauty and Kenzo.”
With a ballooning personal fortune of $184 billion, Bernard Arnault, 73, beat Elon Musk last December to become the world’s richest person. He is the chief executive of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton which controls several iconic luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Tiffany & Co, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney. Forbes put his family’s net worth at $200 billion. Arnault's five children all have top jobs at LVMH.
