Italian designer Roberto Cavalli is being sued by three street artists for taking a section of their mural in San Francisco and printing it onto pieces in his Just Cavalli Spring/Summer 2014 collection.
The artists, Revok, Reyes, and Steel, collaborated on the piece back in 2012 for the Agenda Convention in Long Beach and were shocked when they learned about the Cavalli collection because they never gave the designer permission to use their work.
1.
2.
3.
Sections of the artwork on Cavalli's garments can be directly sourced back to the mural. According to a press release about the lawsuit, "Just Cavalli" and the designer's signature were added over the original artwork to make it seem as if he had done the work himself.
"The images speak for themselves," said David Erikson, attorney for the street artists. "There’s no question that the images are mechanical copies of my clients’ art. It's inexplicable."
Sadly, this is not the first time that an artist has had to sue a company for ripping them off. Last month, David Anasagasti sued American Eagle for biting his droopy-eye motif on their website, and last year Brandon Stanton of Humans of New York received $25,000 when DKNY stole his photos for their storefront display. We're not judges, but it looks like Revok, Reyes, and Steel have a pretty big check coming their way.
