- Peach's Neet Feet, a nonprofit, is accusing Forever 21 of potential trademark infringement over T-shirts.
- Both Forever 21 and Peach's Neet Feet's T-shirts say "Hustle Kindness" in gold writing.
- The Forever 21 shirt costs $10.90.
- The Peach's Neet Feet shirt costs $30 and the proceeds are donated to charity.
- Peach's Neet Feet's founder and president Madison Steiner had the phrase "Hustle Kindness" trademarked in 2016 so she could sell merchandise to raise money for her charity.
Forever 21 is being accused of potential trademark infringement by a charity called Peach's Neet Feet over a black T-shirt that says "Hustle Kindness."
The shirt on the left is from Peach's Neet Feet, a charity organization that benefits children and families who live with chronic illness and disabilities by engaging in and inspiring kindness, according to the organization's website. Madison Steiner, the founder and president of Peach's Neet Feet, filed a trademark for the phrase "Hustle Kindness" in 2016 so that she could sell merchandise to raise money for her charity. Proceeds from the $30 Hustle Kindness shirts are donated to Peach's Neet Feet.
The shirt on the right is from Forever 21. It costs $10.90 and is still for sale online.
Steiner told INSIDER she was disappointed when she first found out about Forever 21's shirt.
"Kindness is our brand ethos and we have built an incredible community around the Hustle Kindness platform," she said. "It is discouraging to see these fast fashion corporations stepping on the heart and souls of those who are putting thought into action."
Steiner said there was no communication between the brands at first. "Forever 21 did not contact us or seek consent to use the trademarked phrase nor did they offer to deposit any proceeds made on the garment to our nonprofit," she said.
On Tuesday, Steiner wrote a Facebook post about the situation in which she asked her fans for help.
"It is a bummer when big brands step on the heart and souls of ones putting thought into action," she wrote. "So we are asking you, our community, and everyone to help us take a stand for what is ours and share this post."
Fans of Hustle Kindness think the two shirts look similar and they're asking Forever 21 to stop selling its version.
@Forever21 You are infringing on the copyright of @PeachsNeetFeet. Do the right thing and take these shirts off the market and donate the proceeds from the shirts already sold to PNF, which provide custom shoes to children with disabilities. #hustlekindness#peachsneetfeetpic.twitter.com/oxswbnDZsE
— Katie Hanway (@KHanway13) March 27, 2018
.@Forever21 This is absolutely reprehensible, not to mention illegal as well. What kind of disreputable company are you to steal charity designs? #CopyrightInfringement#IntellectualPropertyTheft#StealingFromCharityhttps://t.co/R1Dt1PhBqm
— Hex #DPNFamily #SPNCle (@BohoWitch) March 28, 2018
Shame on you 😡 Non profits doing good for the sake of others and lame @Forever21 trying to take over their idea ...... #goodbyetoyouhttps://t.co/f3q7wtxlDl
— lindsey larsen (@lindzkl121) March 28, 2018
Seriously @Forever21 not cool! Do the right thing and remove this shirt from your website and at the very least make a donation to this awesome nonprofit! #shameonyou#HustleKindness#peachsneetfeethttps://t.co/hh4QvvumNx
— Michelle Werito (@shellgonzo) March 27, 2018
@Forever21 discontinue this line and donate the profits to Peaches Neat Feet the original designer or hustle kindness. I will never shop 21 men again #hustlekindness@PeachsNeetFeetpic.twitter.com/HoKFFSlDIj
— Michael Higgins (@MH_27H) March 27, 2018
Really disappointed that @Forever21 ripped off the #HustleKindness trademark from @PeachsNeetFeet, a non-profit that hand paints shoes for children with disabilities. Forever 21 should do the right thing and donate every penny from those shirts to PNF. pic.twitter.com/VUNHIEMYiu
— Jamie ♥ (@JamieMBlanchard) March 27, 2018
Come on Forever 21 do the right thing here. This is a trademark violation so you can make more money and goes against everything the Hustle Kindness movement is about. https://t.co/C4vzTIlUPD
— Tracy Jensen (@5jensenboyz) March 27, 2018
In a statement to INSIDER, a representative for Forever 21 said the retailer was not aware of Hustle Kindness or Peach's Neet Feet when it began to sell the T-shirts.
"Forever 21 was not aware of the 'Hustle Kindness' charity. We do not believe that the use of these generic words on Forever 21's shirt presents any trademark infringement or legal issues," the statement said. "With that said, we respect the spirit and purpose of the charity and sincerely apologize for any perceived indifference."
Representatives for Forever 21 and Steiner are now communicating with each other about the situation.
"We are reaching out to the charity founders to see how we might be able to team up to support their mission and welcome any opportunities to give back to this important cause," the statement from Forever 21 said.
Steiner also said that she would be open to collaboration.
"I would love to see large corporations wanting to be a part of the Hustle Kindness mission and partnering with us or other nonprofits to create more give back movements," she said. "I would love to see the next trend be kindness."
You can read Steiner's full Facebook post here:
***PLEASE READ AND SHARE***
"We have never and simply do not like to publicly provoke any negative dialogue but we feel it is important to inform you of an unfortunate issue regarding the use of our trademarked phrase Hustle Kindness®.
The photo shows a garment sold by Forever 21 on the left and one of many of our garments from our store www.hustlekindness.com on the right.
We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Peach's Neet Feet, and have been printing and selling merchandise with Hustle Kindness® on it since 2015 and have owned the trademark since 2016 under class 035. The purpose of the merchandise is to promote public awareness for children and families faced with adversity, to inspire acts of kindness, and to raise funds to support the kindness based mission of Peach's Neet Feet.
Forever 21 did not contact us or seek consent to use the trademarked phrase nor did they offer to deposit any proceeds made on the garment to our nonprofit. Hustle Kindness® has developed into our brand, is the fire in our mission, and stands as our daily reminder to always make the conscious decision to be kinder humans. Kindness is our brand ethos and we have built an incredible community around the Hustle Kindness® platform.
It is a bummer when big brands step on the heart and souls of ones putting thought into action.So we are asking you, our community, and everyone to help us take a stand for what is ours and share this post."
Sign up here to get INSIDER's favorite stories straight to your inbox.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: A company makes "face masks" for pregnant bellies