Handbag maker Hogan thought it had a great idea: designing new handbags named after famous women. But someone in marketing didn't do his research and now te company is being sued by rocker Chrissie Hynde.
It was almost a brilliant idea.
Trendy handbag designer Hogan just launched a groovy range named after rock chicks. They called a pony-skin version the Chrissie, after Chrissie Hynde - who is a prominent anti-leather campaigner. Oops.
"I never thought I'd be moved to consider filing a lawsuit, but as soon as I heard my name was being used to promote bags made of dead-animal skin, I started exploring my legal options with my friends at PETA," Hynde told Gatecrasher. "At first, I thought this must be a joke, it's so outrageous and thoughtless."
In the past, Hynde's passionate aversion to leather has put her on the other side of the law.
In 2000, the Pretenders front woman was arrested after trashing the window display in the Gap's flagship Times Square store. She and fellow PETA protesters destroyed leather pants and jackets that featured in Gap's heavily publicized "Everybody in Leather" campaign.
A spokeswoman for Hogan did not return calls yesterday.
The moral of this story: always get permission from a celebrity before naming a handbag/lipstick/perfume after her.
