May 11, 2021
The upscale Goat womenswear label has been rebranded as Jane with founder Jane Lewis selling
her Goat trademark to Goat Group for an undisclosed sum.
It will be known as Jane Atelier in its url and on social media and within a few months she will cease using the Goat name altogether. However, the move to the new name has already begun with Wednesday set as its official debut, and the recently-unveiled pre-fall collection using the new Jane name.
The move ends a long-running legal spat that at one point had seen Lewis winning a US injunction preventing sneaker platform Goat Group from selling clothing. Lewis launched the trademark infringement suit in late 2019 and it came as Goat Group raised millions of dollars in investment funds to help it move into the clothing segment.
The move makes sense given the David and Goliath nature of the battle with the giant size of Goat group dwarfing that of the womenswear label. Taking her own name also personalises the link between the designer and her label.
However, while Jane Lewis’s business may be a small company it has a high profile given the celebrity clients who’ve worn its dresses. They’ve included paparazzi magnets the Duchesses of Sussex and Cambridge (the former Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton).