Tyga’s recent foray into the sneaker business has ended with the rap star taking a legal loss.
Tyga teamed up with streetwear brand MSCHF to drop 4,306 pairs of his own customized Wavy Baby sneaker.
Shortly after the rapper and MSCHF started promoting their sneaker collaboration on April 18th, they were hit with a lawsuit by Vans.
The company took issue with Wavy Baby’s logo, which lawyers for Vans said was a complete rip-off of their legendary trademark.
The company marched into court and filed a lawsuit against MSCHF for trademark infringement.
MSCHF claimed their creation was a parody of the iconic Vans logo and protected by First Amendment speech. However, the argument has been shot down.
Earlier this week, a judge sided with Vans and effectively banned Tyga’s Wavy Baby sneaker from going on sale, reports Billboard.
The company said they had already shipped almost all of the 4,306 pairs, so a judge ordered all of the proceeds from the sales to be placed into escrow for potential returns.
“The court’s decision fails to recognize MSCHF’s First Amendment rights to artistic expression, regardless of the particular medium or form of that expression,” MSCHF’s lawyer Megan K. Bannigan said in a statement to Billboard. “MSCHF will continue to litigate this case, including through all available appeals, to secure its and all artists’ freedom to make their art.”
This is the second significant loss for MSCHF.
The streetwear brand also lost in court during a highly publicized battle over the sneaker line they created with Lil Nas X.
The “Old Town road” rapper dropped 666 pairs of his customized Nikes, dubbed “Satan Shoes.” The customized Air Max 97’s featured pentagrams and drops of real human blood in the soles.
Nike feared the Satan Shoes would cause confusion in the marketplace and have people thinking they endorsed the hell-ish sneakers.
Nike won an injunction against MSCHF for trademark infringement over those sneakers as well, which were meant to promote Lil Nas X’s single “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).”
