| Date: | July 12th, 2014 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 1 - 4pm (UTC-08:00) |
| Location: | Vancouver Art Gallery & The Hudson Bay company |
(VANCOUVER, CANADA) – On Saturday, July 12, 2014 at 1:00 P.M., Sufi students from the #TakeOffJustLogo campaign gathered around the Vancouver Art Gallery and Hudson’s Bay Company to protest against fashion designer Roberto Cavalli’s use of a trademarked Sufi symbol as his “Just Cavalli” logo. The protest was well-received by the community and three major Canadian press arrived on scene within minutes into the protest.
Locals and tourists supported the cause by signing the campaign’s online petition, even forming lines of people waiting to sign it on the iPads at the protest. “You don’t have to be a Sufi, or person of any faith to respect trademark law,” said one of the locals who happily signed the campaign’s petition. She continued saying “It’s not right for Roberto Cavalli to use someone else’s trademarked creativity as his own symbol.”
The spiritual Sufi symbol has been trademarked for 27 years, is documented for 150 years and is associated with 1400 years of heritage of the M.T.O Shahmaghsoudi School of Islamic Sufism. The symbol has embedded within it sacred iconography which spells out the name of God in Arabic (‘Allah’) and represents the heart which is another reminder that the gateway to self-cognition is through the heart. People around the world are upset that Roberto Cavalli is using this symbol as his own and not respecting trademark law. To add insult to injury Roberto Cavalli attempts to rebrand the symbol as a ‘snake-bite’ which he claims represents sexuality, lust, and carnality.
After Sufi students were repeatedly ignored by Roberto Cavalli, they took matters into their own hands and launched an impressive #TakeOffJustLogo campaign using, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Change.org petition and recently vine to express their discontent.
The #TakeOffJustLogo campaign has had global success with international protests and raising awareness of Roberto Cavalli’s misuse of a trademarked Sufi symbol. #TakeOffJustLogo supporters say they will continue activities to raise awareness until Roberto Cavalli removes the “Just Cavalli” logo from the entire “Just Cavalli” fashion range.