Photo: Instagram
Fans are outraged.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Jun 02, 2022
After announcing the launch of her new skincare brand, Kim Kardashian is already receiving loads of backlash over the name of the new line.
The beauty mogul shut down KKW Beauty and KKW Fragrance late last year, and just announced the launch of SKKN by KIM, a company founded on "Kim's dream to bridge the gap between the world's most renowned dermatological experts and people at home seeking high-performance skincare," according to the company's press release.
The brand is set to launch on June 21 with nine products that "care for all skin types, tones, and textures at every stage of maturity."
While many Kardashian fans praised the reality star for her new skincare line, which even features sustainable "and refillable packaging" composed of eco-friendly materials, other fans pointed out that Kardashian's brand's name isn't original.
Kim Kardashian is accused of stealing the name 'SKKN' from another brand,
In a Reddit post titled "SKKN already in hot water. Will this be another Kimono situation?," a user uploaded a TikTok video in which they accused Kardashian of stealing the brand name from a Black esthetician in New York.
Under the Reddit post, many users noted that Kardashian could've gone with a different name, just like she did when she renamed her Kimono shapewear brand to SKIMS after being accused of cultural appropriation.
"The esthetician is Cydnie Lunsford. She operates the SKKN+ skincare studio in Brooklyn, New York," Anya Jovita said in her video.
Lunsford had even filed a cease and desist letter over the SKKN trademark back in July 2021, according to Page Six.
After Kardashian filed to trademark both SKKN and SKKN by KIM, her legal team received a cease and desist letter from Beauty Concepts LLC, which claim they already owned the name for salon, skincare, and spa services.
In the letter, Beauty Concepts owner Cyndie Lunsford claimed she’s operated salons under the SKKN+ brand name since 2018.
“I have painstakingly built my successful small business with my own sweat equity, hard work, and research,” Lunsford, 28, said. “It’s clear that I established my brand first.”
Kardashian's attorney, Michael G. Rhodes told TMZ, "We certainly appreciate and support small businesses, and our hat is off to Ms. Lunsford. But the question at hand is one of trademark law and we’ve not done anything deserving of legal action by her.”
"I guess all of those efforts were fruitless because here we are, a year later, and Kim is coming out with her SKKN skincare line," Jovita continued. "Kim has a lot of resources at her disposal and she could've easily changed [the] name."
Kim Kardashian has also been accused on copying Lori Harvey's brand.
The model launched her skincare line, SKN, last year with a name very similar to Kardashian's new venture.
But that is not the only two brands with names similar to Kardashian's business.
Kim Kardashian's SKKN also replicates a brand owned by Australian influencers, Emilee and Amy Hembrow.
The sisters own a skin clinic called 'SSKIN' and have a complicated connection to the Kardashians.
The Hembrows' third sister, Tammy Hembrow once modeled for Khloe Kardashian's Good American and was briefly friends with Kylie Jenner before allegedly falling out after Hembrow was carried out of Jenner's birthday party on a stretcher.
Fans have criticized Kim Kardashian's SKKN brand name.
"She has enough money to pay literally the most creative person in the world to come up with her business name, and she still went ahead with this?? I can’t," one user wrote.
Another user added: "What is further disappointing is that when you search "SKKN" [on] Instagram, the first suggestion is the copied one and the rest of the suggestions are really random skincare accounts. To get to the original account, you have to search "skknplus" in [its] entirety to get it to even show up in the suggestions."
"I guess she cared a little bit less about trampling on the small business of a young Black girl," Jovita also added.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.