- Hot Smart Rich
- Posts
- Trademark or Die
Trademark or Die
What Early-Stage Founders, Creators, and Online Brand Builders Can Learn From Kissing Cowboys, Brandy Melville, and the Wild World of Trademarks
Maggie Sellers & Katie Sellers
20 Jun
This isn’t just a legal case. It’s a cultural flashpoint.
When Emma DiMarco, the queer founder of the brand Kissing Cowboys, posted on TikTok that Brandy Melville had stolen her logo and put it on their shirts, the internet exploded. “Brandy Melville stole my logo and put it all over a bunch of ugly shirts,” she said. “And today, I’m selling everything in my vintage studio to pay for a lawyer.” Her pop-up sale sold out almost entirely—600+ pieces gone in one day—as hundreds of Gen Z shoppers rallied behind her.
Her voice shaking in a follow-up post, Emma revealed that Brandy not only reposted a ripped-off design again but left the original stolen shirts in stores:
Subscribe to Monthly to read the rest.
Become a paying subscriber of Monthly to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content.
Already a paying subscriber? Sign In.
A subscription gets you:
- • Weekly startup, venture, & consumer brand insights
- • Business case studies & experienced POV
- • Post comments
- • Invitations to HSR Insider virtual events