Manchester clothing brand accuses Primark of going ‘a step too far’ with hoodie replica

A Manchester clothing brand has said Primark have gone ‘a step too far’, accusing them of replicating its logo on their new hoodie.

Hikerdelic, based in Ancoats, recently shared a video on social media highlighting the resemblance of its logo to a green Primark ‘Explore Nature, kids’ hoodie.

Taking to Instagram earlier this month the clothing company shared a clip called ‘Primark can’t get their own ideas again’, showing the similarities between the garments, writing: “We’ve been sitting on this for a while. From time to time we find stuff out there similar to ours, but usually it’s just a case of people being influenced by similar things.

“It’s hard to be 100% original. This though, from a corporate behemoth we’re all familiar with, is a step too far, in our opinion. We’d be tempted to turn the other cheek and get on with doing our thing normally.

“Sometimes though, when someone kicks sand in your face you’ve got to let them know it’s not really on. At the end of the day it’s a business that makes hundreds of millions a year in clear profit. They don’t need to step on toes.”

The post added: “This was the first logo we worked with @daren_newman on, and although we’ve got plenty more in our armoury, it’s the one that we began with. It’s not just us who are affected but talented independent illustrators too.”

Speaking to the M.E.N, co-founder Mark said he was ‘disappointed’ to see the close similarities to Hikerdelic’s logo on the Primark outfit and said he believed it should never have happened in the first place. Primark said they are investigating the matter and are in discussions with the brand.

“We always keep an open mind and appreciate brands are sometimes seeking inspiration in the same places, and that results in similarities with designs,” Mark explained. “On this occasion though, this one does seem to have a lot in common with our logo.

“More than a few people have pointed this out to us, and given the amount of work we have done on growing the brand, in our own way over a number of years, this type of thing should not happen.”

Mark said he is open to discussions with Primark but wants to make sure lessons are learnt in order to stop the situation from happening again, adding: “Unfortunately this has been done and can’t be reversed. We’re reasonably happy to talk to them, but we can’t take it lightly.

“It shouldn’t happen and we have to ensure that things like this don’t happen again. It is not easy starting a brand from scratch as we’ve done, it takes a lot of time, effort and money and we can’t let that be undermined.”

A Primark spokesperson said: “We were concerned to learn of an issue regarding the design of a kids’ hoodie we sold last year. We are investigating this and are in touch with the brand.”