Chuck's New Love Language: Imitation
In June 2025, Kelly Butts-Spirito, founder of the fashion brand Love, Kelly, took to social media to allege that Converse, the legacy sneaker brand, co-opted core elements of his brand's identity in their new campaign. How could Kelly be sure Converse had seen his work? He collaborated with them just months before.
Kelly founded Love, Kelly in 2021. It began as a multimedia event planning company that evolved into a fashion brand, debuting at NYFW in Fall 2023. His designs consistently implemented the phrases: “Dear Love,” and “Love, Kelly” in stylized, handwritten-esque font.
In September 2024, Love, Kelly presented its second runway collection during New York Fashion Week in collaboration with Converse. The designer’s Instagram showed glimpses into their creative process: moodboards, reference quotes, emails, and patterns. His brand has been centered around his story, his sobriety, and his creative journey. Converse got a glimpse into all of that.
I came across this story on TikTok, where Kelly posted videos talking about his collaboration with Converse as a “dream come true” that later soured when he saw Converse’s “Love, Chuck” campaign that launched in early 2025. In one video, which has 1.1 million views as of the date of this article, he details how, leading up to the September 2024 show, he worked closely with Converse, shared mockups, designed sneakers with his branding on them. He spent time with Converse’s head of partnerships, who had followed his Instagram for over a year at this point, answering questions about his branding and sharing the brand’s story.
Converse’s new “Love, Chuck” campaign does share undeniably similar elements to Love, Kelly. The campaign, which stars Charli XCX and Tyler the Creator, alongside a selection of independent artists and creatives, follows the format of “Dear ___,” “Love, Chuck”, laid over their portraits.
While Converse has not publicly responded to Kelly's allegations, the brand quietly removed “Love, Chuck” from their Instagram bio following the online backlash.
Image from @itslovekelly Instagram
The Deeper Issue
The similarities go beyond just the visual branding and language. Converse’s campaign centers individuality, authenticity, and artistry, all while it co-opts those exact elements from an independent designer. Kelly’s work is a monument to his redemption and recovery. To see those very elements used for profit in a mega-campaign by a legacy brand arguably goes beyond just his intellectual property, it goes to the soul of his brand.
Is it trademark infringement? That largely depends on whether Kelly had a trademark registration. Kelly's legal options depend largely on whether he filed trademark applications for his 'Dear Love' and 'Love, Kelly' taglines. Without registered trademarks, a potential case becomes significantly more challenging, but not impossible under certain circumstances.
Unfortunately, this story is not unique to the fashion industry. Legacy brands love borrowing, repackaging, and profiting off the work of independent designers they once flirted with (Remember when Converse faced backlash in 2021 after launching a National Parks collection that closely resembled the work a young woman submitted to the brand as part of her internship application?). Examples of smaller designers being ripped off by legacy, luxury, and fast-fashion giants are too many to name.
What Independent Brands Should Know
Kelly's story highlights how quickly creative collaboration can become exploitative, offering crucial lessons for independent brands working with larger companies. Here's what you need to know to protect yourself:
Gain a baseline understanding of intellectual property.
Everything you create is your intellectual property. It is protectable and valuable under the law. Learn what copyrights, trademarks, and patents protect, and how they apply to your work. Trademarks are particularly relevant in the fashion industry, as this case demonstrates.
Register Your Trademarks Early
Trademark law protects your brand signifiers. Brand names, logos, slogans, such as ‘Dear Love,’ and ‘Love, Kelly’ are all protectable under trademark law. The earlier you file, the stronger your position if something goes wrong.
Use contracts
Contracts are crucial when collaborating with other brands. Key terms should involve:
Ownership of your IP (if you own your IP, you can license it to other brands for limited use)
Scope of any licensing
Attribution requirements (making sure you get credited for your ideas)
Non-disclosure/confidentiality provisions
Terms for when the partnership ends
What happens to shared material and concepts when the partnership ends
Document Everything
Save screenshots, emails, file uploads, and anything else that shows how your concepts were shared. If a dispute arises, this paper will come in handy.
Final Thought
Your vision, creativity, and ideas are valuable. Don’t undersell yourself because you don’t have a recognizable name or large following yet. Big brands know the value of fresh ideas that represent authentic creativity, they themselves have lost touch with. They also know that young creatives can be legally naive, and they prey on that fact.
If you have questions, or are ready to protect your brand, learn more about how trademarks apply to your creative work or schedule a consultation to get started:
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