Next settles with Scamp & Dude over copying claims

Retailer Next has reached a settlement with the fashion brand Scamp & Dude over claims it copied the smaller firm’s designs.

Next said it would pay the profits from any sales of a contested design to the label, which will donate the proceeds to charity.

In September, the label founder accused Next of a “blatant infringement” of an animal print top for children.

At the time Jo Tutchener-Sharp said she was extremely disappointed.

“When a company makes £635m a year net profit, surely they have the resources to create their own designs and not take from independent businesses like Scamp & Dude,” she wrote in an Instagram post in September.

“This has to stop. Where has the integrity gone in the fashion industry?”

The former PR executive came up with the idea for Scamp & Dude when she was in hospital recovering from brain surgery and was away from her children.

The aim was to help children feel more secure when they are away from their loved ones. The brand’s lightning bolt logo, or “Superpower button”, is intended to give children “strength and courage” when they feel vulnerable.

The animal print top at the centre of the dispute also featured the pink lightning bolt logo.

In her Instagram post, Ms Tutchener-Sharp said the infringement of the logo was what “hurt the most”.

Next said it had reached an agreement with the label and would “pay the profits from sales of the design in issue to Scamp & Dude, who will use the profits for charitable purposes, including making donations to two charities”.

“Next will also be donating all of the remaining clothing of this design to a charity for distribution to children in need overseas.”