Courtney Love, Dave Grohl, and more have been called to serve as witnesses in a suit against fashion label Marc Jacobs, which alleges the company ripped off the iconic Nirvana logo.
Late last year, the music world was somewhat surprised to learn of a new item by the Marc Jacobs fashion label. Part of their ‘Bootleg Redux Grunge’ collection, the recently-released shirt featured a seemingly-reworked image of Nirvana’s classic logo.
The band’s logo, which first appeared in September of 1991, is famed for its simple design. Featuring an almost intoxicated-looking smiley face, the logo is paired with the bold iconography of the band’s name.
Shirts released by the group also featured the words “Flower Sniffin, Kitty Pettin, Baby Kissin, Corporate Rock Whores” plastered onto the rear.
However, instead of ‘Nirvana’, the now-unavailable shirt released by Marc Jacobs says ‘Heaven’, and in place of the smiley-face’s eyes are the initials MJ. Likewise, the rear text has been altered to read “Redux Grunge Collection 1993/2018 Marc Jacobs”.
While Nirvana’s surviving members soon filed a lawsuit against the fashion label, Marc Jacobs quickly responded, claiming that he not only ‘invented’ grunge, but since “there is no extrinsic similarity” between the two designs, the lawsuit should be tossed.
“The collection was considered groundbreaking in the fashion world, because it brought together high fashion and streetwear on the runway in a way that had never been done before,” Jacobs explained, noting that his 1993 fashion line helped bring the grunge look to the mainstream.
“The debut of the SS93 Grunge Collection is now considered to be one of the most influential runway fashion shows of the 1990s.”
Now, according to court documents obtained by The Blast, Nirvana L.L.C. are not only asking for $1 million in damages, but are requesting Courtney Love, Frances Bean Cobain, and surviving band members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic be called as witnesses.
This is of course bound to be interesting for fans of Nirvana, with Love famously feuding with Grohl and Novoselic for years, fighting the pair across numerous lawsuits in regards to the handling of royalties, along with how certain songs should be delivered to fans.
While Courtney Love and the surviving members of Nirvana appeared to settle their differences for the band’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, there’s no saying how powerful their appearance as witnesses will be in this lawsuit.
Check out ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana:
