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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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‘Real Housewives’ Star Sued Over High-End Dogwear Deal

“Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” Lisa Vanderpump faces claims that she partnered with a Los Angeles dog apparel company to create outfits for her pooch Giggy but then used its designs and samples for her brand, VanderPump Pets.

LOS ANGELES (CN) – It's a dog-eat-dog world in the pet apparel business, according to a new lawsuit against British “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Lisa Vanderpump.

In a state court complaint filed Tuesday, Fifi & Romeo, which specializes in luxury custom-made dog couture, claims that Vanderpump, 56, and her husband Ken Todd partnered with the boutique store after bringing her Pomeranian pooch Giggy in for an outfit.

Vanderpump was so happy with the clothing for Giggy, who is not a party to the complaint, that she suggested Fifi & Romeo design several outfits for the dog. In exchange, according to the boutique, Vanderpump said she would promote the Fifi & Romeo brand on Twitter, Instagram, print publications and other media.

From the summer of 2013, Giggy wore the boutique's outfits at a Beverly Hills Lifestyle magazine party and Vanderpump would credit the store by hash-tagging Fifi & Romeo on Instagram and name-checking the boutique during television interviews on E! Television and LA TV station KTLA.

The store says the relationship went south after the parties formalized their partnership and launched a “Fifi & Romeo for VanderPump Pets” brand. Fifi & Romeo says that from September 2015, Vanderpump failed to credit the company during television appearances and photo shoots.

“In fact, in some instances, defendants edited previous social media posts mentioning plaintiff and purposely misspelled plaintiff's brand name so that plaintiff would not receive the proper recognition. Plaintiff also demanded that defendants pay the agreed-upon manufacturing costs of the outfits given to them. Defendants had made two payments and throughout this time period repeatedly promised payment, but failed to make any payments pursuant to the parties' agreement,” the 8-page filing states.

Vanderpump became “distant” and stopped returning calls after failing to mention Fifi and Romeo at a Yulin March event. The boutique says the reality star then created her own company which markets and sells carriers, toys, collars, leashes and clothing.

“Plaintiff then realized defendants never intended to honor their agreement, but rather intended to use plaintiff and its products to build their own brand and eventually launch their own dog apparel line,” the lawsuit states.

No doubt hoping Vanderpump will be more Scooby-Doo than Scrappy-Doo in court, Fifi & Romeo seeks damages, costs, restitution and attorney fees on claims of breach of contract, fraud, conversion and unjust enrichment.

Courthouse News has reached out to VanderPump Pets for comment.

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