Kim Kardashian is facing a lawsuit after releasing her new skincare line, SKKN.
Another beauty line, a Black-owned, small business out of Brooklyn, claims Kim’s new venture is confusing its customers. The owner of the line called Beauty Concepts claimed to have the rights to SKKN+ and said Kim’s company SKKN is causing confusion.
The owner of Beauty Concepts asked that Kim stop with the SKKN launch, but Kim’s lawyers reportedly declined.
Kim released her latest beauty venture, SKKN, on June 21, after teasing the products all month. Kim’s latest venture is a rebranding of KKW Beauty with new products that focus on skincare.
Beauty Concepts is not the only Black-owned beauty line that Kim is accused of ripping off — she has also received attention for alleged similarities to Lori Harvey’s line, SKN.
Kim Kardashian’s lawyer claims SKKN lawsuit is ‘shakedown’
An attorney for Kim Kardashian, Michael Rhodes, responded to Beauty Concepts owner Cyndie Lunsford’s claims that Kim’s new venture was a ripoff of her line.
Kim’s attorney told TMZ, “This lawsuit is not what it seems. SKKN BY KIM is a new brand that follows in the footsteps of Ms. Kardashian’s successful KKW line of products. Building on independent research and development, her company filed a trademark application for SKKN BY KIM to protect the new branded products. This prompted the current shakedown effort.”
Kim’s attorney continued, “We applaud Ms. Lunsford for being a small business owner and following her dreams. But that doesn’t give her the right to wrongfully claim that we’ve done something wrong. In its letter, Beauty Concepts claimed to own rights to a logo made up of SKKN+, and had just filed for trademark protection for that logo. The business was a one-person shop offering facials from a single Brooklyn location. The salon had no signage and was by appointment only. To our knowledge, Beauty Concepts sold no products under the SKKN+ name.”
Attorney Michael Rhodes finished, “running a small esthetician business in Brooklyn does not give it the right to shut down a global skincare line.”
Fans compare Kim Kardashian’s beauty line with Lori Harvey’s
Fans previously could not help but compare Kim Kardashian’s new beauty line with Lori Harvey’s existing line.
Lori’s line is called “Skn,” which is a five-step program with different ingredients to help improve the appearance of skin.
Lori’s products come in cylinder-shaped packages, like Kim’s, but hers are brightly colored, whereas Kim’s are neutral. Both products are a play on the word “skin” without a vowel.
One fan commented with a clip of NeNe Leakes and wrote, “SKKN by Kim?? What happened to SKN by Lori Harvey??? One thing the Kardashians gon do is take from [B]lack women chileee.”
Kim’s latest reality show, The Kardashians, focuses on business ventures for the Kardashian/Jenner clan. Perhaps the drama will appear in Season 2.
The Kardashians Season 1 is streaming on Hulu.