Vogue is barking up the wrong tree with lawsuit, says Dogue creator
The small canine-focused magazine faces a fight for its name in court after Condé Nast took issue
One is the glossy fashion bible whose recent cover stars include Emma Stone, Kendall Jenner and Nicole Kidman. The other features Afghan hounds in silky headscarves and spaniels in blazers.
Telling the difference between Vogue and Dogue, a parody fanzine dedicated to canine couture, should not be difficult. For starters, Olga Portnaya’s free online magazine, which started as a joke on Instagram, sells fewer than 100 copies of its limited print edition per issue and is only available from a single newsstand in Beverly Hills. It tends to feature labradoodles in trenchcoats, Italian greyhounds in opera gloves, vizlas in bobble hats and sunglasses, and is unlikely to host the Met Gala anytime soon.
However, Condé Nast is not amused. The American publisher that also owns Vanity Fair, GQ and The New Yorker has filed a lawsuit against the one-woman operation, accusing the publication of infringing on its Vogue trademark. Consider it a battle of the underdogue.
According to The New York Times, lawyers for the company have argued that Dogue’s logo was “obviously intended” to confuse customers by suggesting a relationship between the two publications.
They claimed that the continued publication of chihuahuas in dresses under the Dogue cover title was a blow to the reputation of the 134-year–old fashion bible’s reputation and was “likely to damage Condé Nast irreparably”.