Aussie mum taking on the richest man in the world in legal fight

2023-02-09

Aussie mum taking on the richest man in the world in David and Goliath battle after his company demanded she stop using a brand name she created to honour her autistic daughter

Micro brand Kenz Beauty started by Gold Coast mum
She named it after her autistic daughter Kenzie
Rim Daghmash received legal warning from Kenzo
She was told to change her brand name immediately

A Moroccan-Australian mum has spoken out claiming a business run by the world’s richest man is ‘bullying’ her over the tiny beauty label she created to honour her autistic child.

Rim Daghmash, whose brand Kenz Beauty is named after her daughter Kenzie, received the legal threat from Kenzo, which is owned by global powerhouse LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy).

The French fashion giant claims Ms Daghmash’s brand is ‘deceptively similar’ to theirs and that she’d have to change it ‘immediately’.

Rim Daghmash, whose brand Kenz Beauty is named after daughter Kenzie, received the legal threat from Kenzo, which is owned by LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy)

Kenzo, one of many fashion brands owned by Bernard Arnault – the richest man in the world – has demanded Ms Daghmash change her brand name

Kenzo, one of many brands under the LVMH umbrella owned by the richest man in the world, Bernard Arnault, has demanded Ms Daghmash change her brand name.

Arnault is worth US$210.5billion, according to Forbes.

But Ms Daghmash, who named her Gold Coast-based business Kenz Beauty because her daughter’s beauty ‘is out of this world’, is not about to roll over.

Aside from creating a brand in honour of Kenzie, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of two, Ms Daghmash uses social media to tell a positive story about the developmental disability.

She has almost 200,000 followers on Instagram with Kenzie, which means ‘my treasure’ in Arabic.

Ms Daghmash told A Current Affair that she believes the legal demand is ‘bullying’ and that LVMH is ‘crushing’ us.

‘I think it’s just a big corporate bullying a small business. We’re not a threat to them, we’re just a small start-up, a family business.’

Lawyers for Kenzo instructed Ms Daghmash that her company’s brand is ‘deceptively similar’ to theirs

Ms Daghmash claims she can’t afford to battle LVMH in court and has asked the company for mediation but says she has not received a response to that offer

She claims her brand, logo and colours are different from Kenzo, and points out the products sold by each are different.

In a comment on Kenz Beauty’s Facebook page – where she has just 369 followers compared to Kenzo’s one million – Ms Daghmash said ‘our trademark has been examined, approved and published by IP Australia’.

‘A five-year-old would be able to tell the difference between Kenzo and Kenz Beauty,’ she said.

Kenz Beauty sells skin and hair care products and Moroccan exfoliating gloves, whereas Kenzo sells clothing, shoes and accessories.

Ms Daghmash claims she cannot afford to take on LVMH in a legal fight, but has instead asked for mediation with the company

A patent lawyer, Sharon Givoni, said Ms Daghmash might have a case that the two brands are different enough to allow hers to stay unchanged – if she could afford the legal fight.

Ms Givoni said giants like LVMH have ‘almost endless’ resources for issues such as this.

Ms Daghmash claims she cannot afford to take on LVMH in a legal fight, but has instead asked for mediation with the company.

She said so far Kenzo has not responded to that offer.

In a statement to A Current Affair, Kenzo claimed it was ‘willing to reach an amicable agreement that will preserve our mutual interests’.

Daily Mail Australia approached Kenzo and LVMH for comment.

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