Rains-Inditex Press Release

Rains wins against Inditex fashion giant in infringement battle

AARHUS, DENMARK – Friday, 15th of May 2020

Danish based lifestyle brand, Rains, won the lawsuit against multi-billion-dollar, Spanish based fashion retailer, Inditex. The verdict: Inditex is thereby guilty of design infringement of two signature designs by Rains.

Filed in 2016, with The Danish Court Administration, the motion stated the infringement was executed by Inditex’s most globally accomplished brand, Zara, offering knockoffs of two Rains waterproof outerwear silhouettes, Parka Coat and Long Jacket. What is an unprecedented account of a small player within the fashion industry taking on the behemoth that is Inditex, the Spanish retailer will be ordered to compensate Rains, an amount that will be decided at a later date.

The case has taken just over four years of persistence from Rains, a lengthy processing period postponed and drawn out by Inditex. Lead by one of Rains’ co-founders, Daniel Brix Hesselager, the investment in legal injunctive relief was not pursued by the desire for monetary compensation, but rather a mission to set a precedence within the industry.

“We want to show that global giants cannot unimpededly steal designs and violate rights as a part of their business model. We are aware that many professionals in and outside of the fashion industry have been anticipating the result of this lawsuit to potentially follow in our footsteps. We aim to encourage more companies to take up the fight,” says Hesselager.

This is a success for Rains on their Danish home front. Based on the verdict, the next step for Rains is the evaluation of pursuing international actions.

For further questions, contact Daniel Brix Hesselager at db@rains.com or by telephone at (+45) 6147 0073.