Fans are hot at Kim Kardashian, who announced that her beauty brand, formerly known as KKW Beauty, would be relaunched as SKKN by Kim. The name features the reality star’s initials, but many believe she copied Lori Harvey‘s skin care line, SKN by Lori Harvey.
The two brands have similar spellings with the exception of one letter and their names. And after noticing the similarities, fans on Twitter accused “The Kardashians” star of copying Harvey’s name and design.
“Uh sounds close to SKN by Lori Harvey. Awkward,” one person tweeted, in response to Kim’s announcement.
A second jokingly asked “Did Kim Kardashian just use Lori Harvey’s strategy for a skincare brand, or is it just me?”
Meanwhile, a third person tweeted Kim and Lori’s logo designs side by side with the caption, “SKIN by Lori Harvey. SKKN by Kim Kardashian. I’m getting bored.”
Some were confused about why Kim would use a logo design similar to Harvey’s. A few believe this is yet another example of Kim “stealing from a Black woman.”
One individual said, “Kim naming her skincare brand SKKN when Lori Harvey’s skincare brand name is SKN doesn’t sit right with me. Seems like they’re stealing from a Black woman for the thousandth time.”
It’s unclear exactly when Lori Harvey began crafting her brand, SKN by Lori Harvey. She first mentioned her line during a beauty video for Vogue’s “Beauty Secrets” segment in May 2021. But this isn’t the first time Kim has been accused of stealing from a Black woman. In July 2021, the 40-year-old was accused of stealing the name “SKKN” from another black-owned, woman-owned brand.
According to Page Six, the actress and model applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark SKKN by KIM on March 30, 2021. In July, she was hit with a cease-and-desist letter from Beauty Concepts LLC, a brand that has used a similar name since 2017, TMZ reported.
Owner Cyndie Lunsford claimed she filed for the SKKN+ trademark two days before Kim on March 28. The order explained that Lunsford runs a salon that offers skin care and spa services under the SKKN+ name. She said adding “By Kim” at the end barely helps to differentiate between the two brands and worried it would confuse customers. She recently opened a location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and currently uses @skknplus for the company’s social media handles and website.
In response to the letter last July, Kim’s attorney, Michael G. Rhodes, told TMZ, “We certainly appreciate and support small businesses, and our hat is off to Ms. Lunsford. But the question at hand is one of trademark law and we’ve not done anything deserving of legal action by her.”
He added, “We are disappointed that she has chosen to run to the media knowing that we were scheduling a call for tomorrow, requested by her attorney. So while disagreeing with the letter, we’re hopeful that we can smooth things over once both sides speak.”
