Vans has settled a lawsuit with art collective MSCHF over deformed spoof copies of their sneakers, according to a filing in New York federal court.
On Tuesday, the parties informed the court that MSCHF will permanently discontinue selling its “Wavy Baby” shoes and exploiting Vans’ trademarks in accordance with the terms of a confidential settlement agreement.
Vans’ parent company, VF Corp., declined to comment. MSCHF’s attorneys and spokespeople did not immediately reply to requests for comment or additional information on the settlement.
MSCHF is a Brooklyn-based conceptual art group that focuses on satirizing consumer society. Nike sued it separately in 2021 for its partnership with rapper Lil Nas X on “Satan”Shoes”—customized Nike Air Max 97 sneakers that allegedly included a drop of human blood—iin a later resolved case.
In April 2022, Vans sued MSCHF over its “Wavy Baby” sneakers, which feature an exaggerated “wavy” structure and differ from Vans’ original Old Skool shoe style. MSCHF sold all 4,306 pairs of the sneakers within an hour of their release, four days after Vans filed the case.
Later that month, U.S. District Judge William Kuntz issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting MSCHF from advertising or fulfilling orders for the shoes, stating that Vans was likely to demonstrate that they would cause confusion with the company’s trademarked design.
MSCHF appealed the ruling to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Its attorney, David Bernstein of Debevoise & Plimpton, told the court that its cartoonish sneakers are not meant “to be worn at all, other than as a statement” on consumerism and sneaker culture.
Last year, the 2nd Circuit confirmed Kuntz’s decision, saying that MSCHF’s shoes were likely to confuse consumers and rejecting the collective’s claim that it was entitled to increased constitutional protections applicable to works of art in trademark proceedings.
