Banksy accuses Guess of stealing work

Internationally famous artist Banksy is calling out fashion brand Guess for allegedly using his mural for window display without first seeking permission. On his Instagram page, the anonymous British street artist posted an image of the Guess store in central London and asked for shoplifters to pay the store a visit. The post added that the brand has helped themselves to his art work without permission, and said “how can it be wrong for you to do the same to their clothes?"

The image used of the "Flower Thrower" is known to be one of Banksy's most iconic murals created in 2003. The image was said to signify hope for a peaceful resolution of conflicts by substituting a weapon with a bunch of flowers.

Meanwhile, on its website, Guess said the brand created a new collection "featuring Banksy graffiti" which was in partnership with Brandalised. Brandalised is an urban graffiti license which mission is to offer Banksy fans affordable graffiti collectibles. This new capsule features contemporary garments for Guess men, women and children, along with unique accessories, said the statement on its website. Guess further elaborated that using iconic motifs from Banksy’s graffiti, this collection combines the artist’s graffiti with Guess attitude in tees, sweatshirts and coats for men, alongside cute, cropped sweats and fitted tees for women.

Since the post went viral, Reuters said that Guess has closed its shop in central London and covered up the window display. In an interview with the BBC, copyright lawyer Liz Ward said Guess seems to have “legitimately sourced” the artwork via Brandalised which claims to have rights to commercially use Banksky’s artwork. As such, the move and comments could perhaps be to “create some kind of guerrilla marketing campaign”, she shared.

Meanwhile, the anonymously famous British artists attained fame when the "Girl with Balloon" painting shredded itself after being auctioned off for a whopping US$1.4 million. Banksy, the artist behind the artwork, posted a behind-the-scenes video of the stunt with a caption - "The urge to destroy is also a creative urge". 

Currently, Banksy has over 11.8 million followers on his Instagram. The post alone has generated 21.3k comments. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Banksy and Guess for a statement. 

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