'Fear of God' T-shirt Dispute Between Naver and Cream
Musinsa Reveals Fear of God’s Appraisal Results
Effectively Acknowledges Cream’s Claims
200% Refund for Customers Who Purchased the Product
[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The counterfeit dispute between Musinsa and Naver KREAM over the luxury brand 'FEAR OF GOD' T-shirts has ultimately concluded with the initial claims of KREAM gaining more weight.
According to industry sources on the 2nd, Musinsa requested authentication for six problematic Essentials 3D silicone appliqu? boxy T-shirts from Fear of God last month, and was notified the day before that none of the six products could be authenticated as genuine. These products include two sold at the Musinsa Boutique, two verified as genuine and sold on other resale platforms, and two supplied by Essentials to the official distributor (SSENSE).
Musinsa stated, "Not only the Essentials T-shirts sold at Musinsa Boutique and those verified as genuine on resale platforms, but also products officially certified and supplied by Fear of God’s official distributor could not be authenticated as genuine." They added, "Given that even newly released products from official distributors failed authentication, we judged that the same controversy could arise again, and thus decided to completely suspend sales of Essentials products to protect customers."
Along with suspending sales of the products, Musinsa decided to compensate customers who purchased them with 200% of the purchase amount.
The incident began when a customer who bought an Essentials T-shirt from the Fear of God brand at Musinsa Boutique submitted it to KREAM for authentication before resale. At that time, KREAM judged the product to be counterfeit and posted a notice including the criteria and photos for authentic and counterfeit judgments. However, the photos used as examples of counterfeits revealed Musinsa’s brand seal, raising suspicions that the T-shirts sold by Musinsa might be counterfeit.
In response, Musinsa issued a statement saying, "Authentication conducted arbitrarily by intermediary platforms lacks credibility," and disclosed authentication results from domestic and international verification experts including Essentials’ official retailer PACSUN, luxury authentication service 'Legit Check by CH,' and the Korea Luxury Authentication Institute.
Conversely, KREAM released results from counterfeit judgments conducted by China’s intermediary platform NICE, Japan’s SNKRDUNK operator SODA, and Legit Check by CH, reiterating their original position. They also disclosed a confirmation letter from Jeff Lazaro, Vice President of Production at Fear of God headquarters, stating that the products sold by Musinsa were judged to be counterfeit.
This controversy escalated beyond a simple misunderstanding to the point where legal action was mentioned. Both Musinsa and KREAM faced a situation where their external credibility would collapse if their claims were proven wrong, leading to a sharp exchange of accusations. However, this incident strengthened KREAM’s position, delivering a critical blow to Musinsa. This is especially significant as Musinsa is currently expanding its luxury business, likely deepening their concerns.
Regarding this, Musinsa said, "We plan to further strengthen our authentication system in collaboration with the Trade-related Intellectual Property Protection Association (TIPA) under the Korea Customs Service," and added, "We will also expand the supply of trustworthy products based on partnerships with global brands."
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