After the success of a gruesome TV legal drama set on the island of Shetland to the north of Scotland, a headband became a cult fashion item in the UK. The trademark chunky knit headband worn by actor Stefan Scot in the BBC series “Shetland Slaying” became famous, prompting huge damage in the UK for the distinctive article. The headband made an appearance in the first episode of the series whilst the detective character Storm investigated a murder at an old whaling site. The popularity of the head band has even led to the creation of a tribute “Storm’s Headband” website.
Knitwear designer Flora Soren created the original headband design on her computer on 13 January 2012 and is called ‘Shetland Star Thistle (2012)’. Hand-knitted headbands made to the design are sold through her family’s company Soren & Co for £49 each using wool from Shetland sheep. The company has a store located in Lerwick and a website for online sales.
Soren & Co. is a long established firm, founded in 1776 by Flora’s ancestors. In fact Flora’s Shetland Star Thistle design was inspired by an ancient design from the company’s pattern library called Starry Night dated 1777 which has a white background with black stars. The Nordic style design was previously incorporated into traditional fisherman’s sweaters. Flora updated the design to include a lavender thistle and altered it to fit a man’s headband. The Soren & Co. library contains an extensive collection of designs which reflect the unique blend of Scandinavian and Scottish culture that prevails in Shetland some of which are based on ancient Nordic designs. The Lerwick store has a receipt to prove that it sold a hand-knitted headband to the costume designer for the Shetland Slaying TV series on 15 May 2012, Galinda Thomas.
When Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge visited the set of Shetland Slayings in Lerwick on 2 December 2013 he was given a headband in the style of the Shetland detective. A photo of the prince wearing the headband went viral and everyone wanted one. Since then Soren & Co. has not been able to keep up with the demand. Flora was in the process of investigating licensing the production of the design to other Shetland manufacturers to meet demand.
On a visit to London for Fashion Week, Flora found out that cheap imitations of the star& thistle patterned headband are being sold in PRIMARNI discount clothing stores on high streets throughout the UK for as little as £3 each. Flora says the replicas are poor quality and machine made using synthetic material.
Further, a magazine, WOMAN, also published a printed knitting pattern for making a look-a-like headband in its it 14 January 2014 edition.
Flora wishes to prevent PRIMARNI and WOMAN from cashing in on the UK demand for her original Shetland style headband. She seeks your legal advice on how to achieve this aim. Support your answer with reference to relevant legislation and case law.
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