Legal battle between Chanel and The RealReal continues

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Apr 9, 2019

Chanel and The RealReal continue to be embroiled in a legal dispute over the latter's qualification to sell Chanel goods.

The conflict began in November 2018, when Chanel first named The RealReal in a trademark infringement and counterfeiting lawsuit filed in a New York federal court. In the filing, Chanel reportedly alleged that the U.S. resale company had sold at least seven counterfeit Chanel bags, despite its promise that its in-house team of luxury experts verified each product as authentically Chanel.

The initial November filing said that The RealReal, “through its business advertising and marketing practices, has attempted to deceive consumers into falsely believing that The RealReal has some kind of approval from or an association or affiliation with Chanel or that all Chanel-branded goods sold by The RealReal are authentic," but that “there is no nor has there ever been any approval by or association or affiliation between Chanel and The RealReal."

Moreover, the necessary training and knowledge required to spot a fake versus a real Chanel product "could only reside within Chanel," continued the French fashion label in its statement last year. 

Following this, the suit sat dormant until March, when The RealReal requested that the case be dismissed. However, Chanel pushed back in a new filing on April 3, showing that it isn't willing to give up its position on the matter.

This most recent move has prompted The RealReal to respond this week, saying it views the allegations by Chanel as an attempt to quash possible competition in the luxury market.

"The RealReal unequivocally rejects Chanel’s claims," the company said in a statement given to FashionNetwork.com. "Chanel’s lawsuit is nothing more than an alarmingly thuggish effort to stop consumers from reselling their authentic used goods, and to prevent customers from buying those goods at discounted prices. They are trying to stop the circular economy."

Additionally, the reseller said it "stands behind its authenticity guarantee" and authentication process, and that its business is not an absolute threat to the primary luxury market.

"The RealReal's resale model supports the primary luxury market where the vast majority of our customers also purchase luxury...We serve as a real-time barometer of resale value, so consignors use our site as a resource when making purchase decisions in the primary market."

Chanel is yet to reply to FashionNetwork.com’s request for comment.

This latest suit closely resembles a similar one filed by Chanel against another luxury resale platform, What Goes Around Comes Around, in March of 2018. Since that filing, a judge denied WGACA's motion to dismiss Chanel’s claims.