According to the Portland Business Journal, on Monday, Nike opened a lawsuit against former apparel design director for Nike Sportswear Matthew Millward and Ralph Lauren that alleges a breach of contract. Hmm, where have we heard that one before? Oh yea, when Nike opened a lawsuit against the three designers who jumped ship to Adidas which was settled in June. Millward put in time at Nike from November 2012 through October 9, 2015 when he joined Club Monaco (owned by Ralph Lauren) to as the VP of men's design.
Nike claims that Millward's transition over to Club Monaco violates a one-year non-compete agreement. His role at Club Monaco, as laid out in the lawsuit, has him designing "the same types of apparel that he worked on during his employment with Nike"—particularly products under the Nike Sportswear umbrella. Naturally, the most valuable stuff that Millward would bring over is the confidential, behind-the-scenes workings at Nike and products that have not released yet. Nike went so far to even lay out some examples, drawing comparisons between Nike's Tech Fleece items and many of Club Monaco's sportier designs. A few of them are a bit of a stretch, but you can see them for yourself in the lawsuit on page 8. I mean, if Nike went after every company making grey, bonded crewneck sweatshirts, their legal department would be pretty busy. But then again, Millward probably should have been a little more cautious in his job hunt and how his new duties would relate to his work at Nike. We'll have to see how this one pans out.
UPDATE: According to The Fashion Law, this case ended before it even started. Yesterday, the Oregon federal court posted a dismissal that states "the court [has] been informed by counsel for the parties that this action has been settled." The settlement comes on the day that the two parties were to meet in court about a possible order that would have kept Millward from violating his non-compete. Naturally, the details of the settlement were not disclosed, but you can bet a there were a few zeroes on that check.
