SKIMS has yet to publicly comment on the lawsuit. Expect the brand's legal team to argue they had no knowledge of Cesare's prior trademark and that 'Fits Everybody' is a descriptive phrase rather than an infringing mark.
Insiders say this case is particularly damaging because SKIMS was already warned — twice — by the USPTO before launching. The timing of their three-month extension request right before Cesare filed suggests they knew trouble was coming.
The lawsuit was filed March 31, 2026 in Southern District of New York. SKIMS' Fits Everybody collection generated $700 million to $900 million in revenue while using the disputed name. The USPTO twice refused to register SKIMS' mark due to likelihood of confusion with Cesare's registered trademark.
This is a classic David versus Goliath moment, and for once, the little guy has receipts — years of them. Kim's team may have deep pockets, but trademark law favors first use, not deepest pockets.
Kim Kardashian's $5 billion shapewear empire SKIMS is facing its biggest legal challenge yet from a small New York designer who claims she owned the "Fits Everybody" name nearly a decade before the reality star launched her collection. Denise Cesare filed a 43-page trademark infringement lawsuit on March 31 in the Southern District of New York, alleging that Kardashian's brand knowingly copied her brand's name despite receiving repeated warnings to stop.
Cesare's company, Fits Everybody To A T, has been selling apparel and swimwear under the disputed name for nearly ten years. She holds two active federal trademarks dating back to 2016 and 2024, giving her legal standing that predates SKIMS' expansion into the category. The lawsuit claims Kardashian's team identified Cesare as a small, self-funded business owner who "would likely lack the resources to fight back" — a strategy her attorneys are calling a "calculated decision." Lawyers for the designer allege SKIMS relied on its "overwhelming financial resources, celebrity connections, and marketing machine to simply crush" Fits Everybody To A T "out of existence." What makes this case particularly damning is the paper trail.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office twice refused to register SKIMS' mark because of what officials called a "likelihood of confusion" with Cesare's registered trademark — once in December, prompting SKIMS to file for a three-month extension in March amid their six-month response deadline. Despite these official warnings, the lawsuit alleges SKIMS continued expanding its Fits Everybody collection anyway, generating between $700 million and $900 million in revenue under the disputed name.
"The complaint tells the story of our client — a small, self-funded business founded and run by Denise Cesare, its sole owner and operator," said attorney Jessica Mathews in a statement to Daily Mail. "What followed is a textbook case of reverse confusion: a far larger, celebrity-backed company adopting a confusingly similar name and rapidly saturating the market through scale, advertising, and the cultural reach of its co-founder." Cesare's legal team says they asked SKIMS to stop using the mark almost two years ago.
"They refused," Mathews noted. The lawsuit is seeking an order barring SKIMS from continuing use of the name, along with damages including legal costs and profits.
