Amira Rasool, founder of online retailer The Folklore, accused the pop star last week of selling products that tore off her company’s logo, which sells clothing, accessories and other designer products in Africa and the diaspora.
Rasool shared photos on Twitter and Instagram showing cardigans and sweatshirts with the words “The Folklore Album” for sale on the Swift website.
“Based on the design similarities, I believe the merchandise designer tore off my company logo,” he wrote on July 24. “I am sharing my story to shed light on the big business / celebrity trend by copying the work of minority-owned small business owners. I am not going to let this blatant theft run amok.”
As of Tuesday, Swift’s website was no longer selling clothing with the words “The Folklore Album,” trading them for new designs that said “Folklore Album,” InStyle reported.
Rasool called the design change “a great first step” and said that she and the Swift teams were discussing the situation.
“I commend the Taylor team for recognizing the damage the merchandise caused to my company’s brand @ TheFolklore,” he wrote Tuesday. “I acknowledge that she has been a great advocate for women who protect their creative rights, so it was good to see that her team is on the same page.”
CNN has reached out to Rasool and Swift’s publicist for comment, but has not received a response.
On Thursday, Swift announced that he was donating to the Rasool company.
“Amira, I admire the work you are doing and am happy to make a contribution to your company and support the Black in Fashion Council (launched on 8/3) with a donation,” he wrote in response to Rasool’s tweet. . Rasool later publicly thanked Swift for her response.
Swift’s decision to shake and correct course contrasts with how Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, handled a similar situation.
The trio of countries announced last month that they would remove “Antebellum” from their name due to the association with slavery and instead would go through “Lady A”. But it turned out that blues singer Anita White has been acting under the name “Lady A” for decades.
Initially, it seemed that the parties could work things out. But things broke down and the group filed a lawsuit in the Nashville District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The lawsuit claims that the group received a trademark under the name “Lady A” in 2011, after several years of using it interchangeably with “Lady Antebellum” for their goods and services.
CNN’s Lisa France contributed to this report.
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