Levi Strauss has ended its lawsuit accusing the Italian luxury fashion brand Brunello Cucinelli of infringing its familiar, trademarked rectangular pocket tab.

Levi notified a federal judge in Oakland, California on Tuesday that it was dismissing the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again. Settlement talks began shortly after Levi sued in January.

Neither Levi nor its lawyers immediately responded to requests for comment. A Brunello Cucinelli spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

Levi accused Brunello Cucinelli of selling clothing that contained “nearly identical” copies of its tab, which the retailer of denim and other clothing trademarked in 1938, and provided 14 photos illustrating the alleged infringement.

Based in San Francisco, Levi has in recent years filed several lawsuits to protect its tabs, saying the sale of infringing products would confuse consumers and cause irreparable damage to its goodwill.

Levi brands also include Dockers and Beyond Yoga.

The company has settled similar lawsuits against Kering’s Yves Saint Laurent and LVMH’s Kenzo.

The case is Levi Strauss & Co v Brunello Cucinelli USA Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 24-00399.

By Jonathan Stempel and Blake Brittain; Editor: Bill Berkrot

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Unpacking Levi’s New Marketing Strategy

With a new campaign, the first from CMO Kenny Mitchell, the denim giant is hoping consumers will change how they think about — and where they shop for — the brand.

TikTok sued the US government over a new law that will force its Chinese parent company ByteDance Ltd. to divest the popular video app or face a ban across the country.

The lawsuit marks the first legal challenge since Congress passed the law in April. TikTok has argued that the law will stifle free speech and hurt creators and small business owners who benefit economically from the platform. The company previously said that it spent more than $1.5 billion to isolate its US operations and agreed to oversight by American company Oracle Corp.

“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion people worldwide,” the company said in a Tuesday filing in the US Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia.

The legal battle comes after President Joe Biden signed into law a Ukraine-Israel aid package that includes the TikTok provision. A lobbying push by TikTok chief executive officer Shou Chew failed to persuade US lawmakers who worry about the national security threat of China potentially accessing user data and disseminating propaganda to 170 million Americans — about half the US population.

“There is no question: the Act will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere,” the company said.

TikTok has asked the court to issue a judgment that the law violates the Constitution and to prohibit the Justice Department from enforcing it. TikTok is being represented by Covington and Burling LLP and Mayer Brown LLP.

TikTok’s links to China have faced scrutiny under several administrations. Former President Donald Trump used an executive order to try to force a sale of the app to an American company or face a ban. But his administration also faced multiple legal challenges and judges blocked the ban from taking place. When Biden became president, he put Trump’s ban under fresh review.

“Make no mistake, this is a ban, a ban on you and your voice,” Chew said in a video on the app the day the bill was signed. “Politicians may say otherwise, but don’t get confused. Many who signed the bill say the TikTok ban is the ultimate goal.”

TikTok has argued that a ban would devastate 7 million businesses and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion annually to the US economy.

Toward the end of last year, legislative efforts to ban or force a sale of TikTok stalled. But classified briefings that raised national security concerns prompted a bipartisan group of US lawmakers in March to plan legislation.

Meanwhile, TikTok and other platforms have been hit with hundreds of lawsuits blaming them for addicting young people to social media and causing mental distress. Montana became the first US state to enact a law that would ban residents from using the app. In December, a federal judge sympathised with TikTok’s free-speech argument in blocking the Montana measure while the legal challenge plays out.

The initial divestiture deadline is set for Jan. 19, which is a day before the next presidential inauguration. Biden will be able to push back the deadline by another 90 days.

By Chris Strohm and Sabrina Willmer

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Beautycounter is postponing its relaunch deeper into 2024, according to an internal email viewed by The Business of Beauty.

Founder Gregg Renfrew bought the brand back from private equity firm Carlyle Group last month, with a view to reopen it on May 1. Counter Brands LLC, the parent company of Beautycounter was wound down, and Renfrew purchased the company with the help of private investors via a new firm, G2G. Beautycounter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In an email sent May 6 to the company’s direct sales staff, known as advocates, Renfrew said they “will not be able to launch operations” as soon as hoped and that a full launch is slated for late 2024. Beautycounter’s business model allowed individuals to order, sell and distribute products, as well as recruit others to do so, and earn a small commission on those sales.

Renfrew went on to say that when she purchased Beautycounter back, its economic situation was worse than expected, and it lacked enough funds to pay down debt. She described the last few weeks as a “mad dash” to try and restore operations, but that the original timeline is “too aggressive”.

Per the email, the relaunched company will have the same mission as Beautycounter, which was founded in 2013 with a “clean beauty” ethos that eschewed many common cosmetics ingredients, and also used a direct sales model. It later launched wholesale via Ulta Beauty and opened its own brick and mortar stores. The new company will still involve advocates, per the email, but the future earning structure may be different as the company evaluates its options.

Ulta Beauty stores will continue to sell Beautycounter until July; from then on, products will only be available via Ulta Beauty’s website. All non-seasonal Beautycounter brick-and-mortar stores are now closed, though a seasonal store in Nantucket will be open at some point in the summer.

The product assortment may also change; in the email, Renfrew said while she looks forward to selling well-loved products, “as with all other elements of the business, the team will evaluate the right assortment and offering for the future.”

The company could look very different when it returns. In the email, Renfrew said “all aspects” of the community and sales structure, including earnings and job titles will be assessed.

Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day’s most important beauty and wellness news and analysis.

Kelly Slater’s disdain for sunscreen goes back years, well before the substance — which, for the record, is almost universally recommended by dermatologists to protect against harmful UV rays — became a target of certain corners of the wellness community.

“I almost never use sunscreen,” he tweeted back in 2011.

The 11-time World Surf League champion doesn’t deny that sunscreen works and said he’s been known to bum a squeeze off of friends after getting burnt on a tropical surfing adventure. At 52, he said he is paying more attention to his skin after decades in the sun.

“I have some spots on my neck and on my head that I want to watch out for,” he said.

Still, it’s a bit of a surprise to see Slater launching Freaks of Nature, a skincare line in which an SPF-30 sunscreen is one of the hero products. (The other is a moisturiser.) Products go on sale Tuesday on the brand’s website.

In many ways, skincare is a natural fit for Slater. The surfer was early to the celebrity brand trend, launching the apparel label Outerknown in 2014 with backing from Kering as well as the surfboard brand Firewire. Launching May 7, he’s following closely behind fellow athletes Serena Williams and LeBron James, who debuted a skincare brand and a grooming line, respectively, in April.

As for sunscreen specifically, Slater is flipping his historic aversion on its head: It’s not that he’s opposed to the concept, he said, as long as protection comes from minerals and other naturally occurring ingredients, rather than chemicals.

“I’ve always been about mineral sunscreens,” he said.

Gorpcore Beauty

Freaks of Nature is leaning into that all-natural branding with plans to launch into more outdoor categories, such as a DEET-free bug repellant it is developing. Chic blue and orange, gender-neutral packaging evokes colourful Patagonia fleeces.

The brand also has one foot in the world of biohacking, the optimisation-focused, alpha-male answer to wellness culture, which Slater has embraced. Ingredients include a “bio-mimicked version of Japanese spider silk” and sugarcane-derived “vegan shark squalane,” which it promotes as beneficial to the skin microbiome.

Freaks of Nature has enlisted other outdoors-oriented brand ambassadors including rock climber Nina Williams as well as freediver and marine biologist Ocean Ramsey, who is known for swimming cage-free with great white sharks.

There are plenty of elite athletes, outdoorsy types and wellness enthusiasts who pay more attention to ingredient lists and are willing to pay a premium for effective, all-natural products. Environmentally friendly flourishes — packaging made from upcycled ocean plastic, for instance — are also a draw.

The goal is to reach those niches, and then make a play for the mainstream, said Lukas Derksen, co-founder of Freaks of Nature and Squared Circles, the L Catterton-backed venture studio behind Nutrafol, which was sold to Unilever, as well as sustainable clothing brand Pangaia. Other investors in the brand include Mike Meldman, the co-founder of Casamigos tequila and founder of Discovery Land, and actor and filmmaker Jonah Hill.

“If we were to show up at Sephora tomorrow, your hardcore climber in Denver might be like, ‘Wait, what?’” he said. “But I do think, eventually, that we want to get there.”

Making the Case for SPF

Convincing Slater to put his name behind a sunscreen in the first place was a coup — and a challenge.

“Kelly is a really interesting character in a way, because he’s been notorious for not using sunscreen, which is maddening when you think about it,” said Derksen.

That wasn’t always the case. Slater was the face of L’Oréal Paris Solar Expertise sunscreen back in 2006. But that all changed as he became more concerned about chemicals in products.

Some of his objections have extensive research to back them up, including the harmful effects of common sunscreen ingredients on coral reefs or the findings that sunscreen chemicals are absorbed from the skin into the body.

Others originate more from the wellness community than mainstream science, including the belief that chemical-based sunscreens can have harmful effects on the human body. The US Food and Drug Administration, which regulates sunscreen, has not concluded that any ingredients in commercially available sun-protection products are unsafe.

Slater has become increasingly vocal on health topics beyond sunscreen. He was one of a handful of elite athletes who spoke out against Covid-19 vaccination requirements. He’s also a longtime friend and supporter of vaccine-sceptic and presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In December, Slater posted videos of himself surfing with the candidate. In March, he was interviewed in Surfer magazine alongside Kennedy.

Slater said his 20-year long friendship with the candidate stems from their shared interest in environmental activism, adding that he did not believe his association with RFK Jr. would affect the perception of his brand.

“[Slater] is a little bit on the conspiratorial sort of spectrum from time to time,” Derksen said. “Kelly sometimes goes a little bit more extreme than we probably would … But he’s very much into the whole world of biohacking and doing the absolute best for his body.”

Slater said to drive hype around his sunscreen, he is more interested in promoting it through personal use than getting into the science. His girlfriend is helping him develop a skincare routine; he said he is not familiar with the world of “get ready with me” skincare videos.

“I have something I trust and I love and I helped formulate,” Slater said. “Now I bring it for other people.”

Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day’s most important beauty and wellness news and analysis.

Online fashion marketplace Zalando returned to growth in the first quarter after three consecutive declines in gross merchandise volume, as bets on more premium brands and its business servicing other retailers paid off.

While fast-fashion retailer Shein is a threat to Zalando’s revenues and customer numbers, chief financial officer Sandra Dembeck said the company does not want to compete on price, instead trying to differentiate itself with a range of higher-priced brands such as On Running, which it recently added.

“We do not want to compete in the ultra fast fashion, ultra low price point segment,” Dembeck said in a press conference. Zalando’s average order value increased to €60.4 ($65) in the first quarter, from €57.3 a year earlier.

Quarterly gross merchandise volume (GMV) — a key revenue metric measuring the total value of all goods sold — rose 1.3 percent to €3.27 billion from 3.23 billion a year earlier, the German online fashion retailer said.

At 0820 GMT, the company’s shares were up 7 percent.

As inflation has hit demand for clothes, Zalando has sought new revenue drivers and started offering its platform and logistics network as a service to other retailers and brands.

Revenue from Zalando’s business-to-business (B2B) service was up 13 percent at €215 million.

Zalando’s number of active customers fell, however, to 49.5 million from 51.2 million a year earlier, and revenue dipped 0.6 percent to €2.24 billion.

Along with weaker demand after a pandemic-fuelled surge in online shopping, increased competition from Shein — which sells $5 T-shirts and $10 shoes — has weighed on Zalando.

Dembeck said the decline in Zalando’s customer numbers could partly reflect shoppers turning to “new incumbents” with lower prices, but was also a result of Zalando introducing a minimum order value of €29.90 to qualify for free delivery as it focused more on profitability.

“We feel that with that, we’re in a very healthy position because now we can really leverage those active customers (and) increase their spend with us,” she said.

In a bid to reduce the number of returns — a major threat to profits for online retailers — Zalando developed a tool to predict sizing based on photos submitted by customers, and launched the service in Spain, France and Italy in the first quarter, adding to Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) swung to a profit of €28.3 million from a loss of €0.7 million a year earlier.

Zalando confirmed its outlook for GMV and revenue to grow as much as 5 percent in 2024, with adjusted EBIT of €380-450 million.

By Linda Pasquini and Helen Reid; Editors: Christopher Cushing and Mark Potter

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