Naples celebrates today its patron saint, Saint Januarius, known in Italy as San Gennaro. The event is marked by a very special miracle - the liquefaction of the saint's blood that takes place three times a year (today, his feast; on Dec. 16, the commemoration of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 1631 and the day before the first Sunday in May, to celebrate the reunification of his relics).
San Gennaro was among the inspirations of Dolce & Gabbana's A/W 16 Alta Moda Collection: one of the models in the Neapolitan catwalk show that took place last year in July around the San Gregorio Armeno area of Naples, donned indeed rich vestments that seemed borrowed from the museum of the treasure of San Gennaro.
An ample dress with a '50s silhouette was instead characterised by a large print of one of the most beautiful nativity scenes in the world, the monumental Presepe Cuciniello (Nativity Scene by Michele Cuciniello, preserved at the National Museum of San Martino in Naples) with its incredible architectures of Roman temples and angels flying in the sky.
The catwalk show also featured a model in a long skirt matched with an embellished version of a S.S.C. Napoli football club jersey recreated in satin and embroidered with Sophia (Loren)'s name on the front and with the name of Argentinean football player Diego Maradona and a sequinned number 10 on the back. During the runway, the model wearing this ensemble was also carrying a soccer ball. Both Loren and Maradona are considered icons in Naples, so Dolce & Gabbana thought they were paying tribute to them with this design.
At the time Maradona didn't seem to mind, but last week (the news were spread by the Italian media around 6th September, but the foreign media area reporting them only now) he announced via his manager Stefano Ceci that he had sued the design duo.
Filed at the beginning of September in the Milan Court of First Instance, the legal suit is based on the fact that Maradona is accusing D&G of having taken unfair advantage of the reputation of his well-known name.
The ex-football player has a number of European Union trademark registrations for his name (filed in July 2001 and registered in January 2003), including use on Clothing Products, Cosmetics and Cleaning Products, Computer & Software Services & Scientific Services. Maradona's name is therefore protected by trademark law, that's why earlier on this year he also sued Konami, publisher of Pro Evolution Soccer 2017, that used his name in a game without his authorisation.
Maradona is legally right, even though he should have taken his decision immediately after seeing the show and not 14 months later, something that may play in favour of D&G in conjunction with the fact that he is asking for compensation for a garment that was part of a high fashion show, so it wasn't produced in series and wasn't probably even for sale (did anybody ever buy the original one seen on the runway?).
In a nutshell, while the request is legitimate, it may pose some doubts and, in case a judge may decide in Maradona's favour, D&G may still have grounds for an appeal. That said, who knows, the legal dispute may end with a settlement.
In May Konami and Maradona reached for example an out-of-court settlement stating that the company was going to compensate him for the use of his name and likeness in the Pro Evolution Soccer franchise, while Maradona was going to become PES Ambassador until 2020 and promote the game on Konami's behalf. In that case Maradona stated he was going to use part of the money received by Konami to improve the situation of football pitches located in disenfranchised areas of his home country.
Maybe it would have been more honest for Maradona to ask (at the time of the runway) for a donation from D&G that could have gone towards the city of Naples, a place that has often suffered because of lack of work and organized crime.
In the meantime, as lawyers prepare the case, D&G should maybe keep on stealing inspirations from Catholicism.
As stated in previous posts it is highly unlikely that the Virgin Mary will sue a fashion designer for copying her attire, and most saints are probably too busy to drag D&G in court for copyright infringements. In conclusion, dear fashion designers, borrowing, copying and stealing from religion remains the safest option around at the moment (please add this post to the Holy Couture chapter that we closed a while back).
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