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A clothing store of fashion brand Guess in London has increased security, temporarily closed the store and taped window displays after artist Banksy called on shoplifters via Instagram to come to the store, reports BBC.
Anonymous British artist accuses Guess of printing artwork on clothing without permission. The artist also calls through his own Instagram page shoplifters to visit a store of the fashion label in London in retaliation.
“Attention shoplifters”, writes the artist. “Please go to Guess in Regent Street. They stole my designs, so how could it be wrong to do the same to their clothes?”
Guess says it has a license for use
While perhaps the call should be seen more as the artist’s way of starting a discussion, the Guess branch has been closed as a precaution. The windows are taped over and the window reads: ‘Sorry about the windows, we are repainting them’.
Guess has not yet commented on the artist’s statement, but does say on its website that the collection featuring Banksy’s art was “created in partnership with Brandalised, an urban graffiti licensing company whose mission is to offer Banksy products to prices accessible to fans”.
“Had Banksy known about this deal and approved it, his message could have been intended to initiate some sort of guerrilla marketing campaign,” speculates copyright lawyer Liz Ward. BBC. “But if he didn’t know about the deal, he’s probably pretty angry. Especially since these kinds of big companies and brands are incompatible with the artist’s anti-establishment vision.”
