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Disregarding Henry? -- Facing Legal Woes, Duarte Builds New Collection
By: Karin Nelson
Apr 4, 2002/ FWD/ --- When Henry Duarte opens his much-anticipated Melrose Avenue shop
in Los Angeles in the next two weeks, devout fans of his $500-and-up patched-together jeans
and leather pants and Carnaby Street 1960s rock 'n' roll fashions (a high-style crowd that
has included Gwyneth Paltrow, Gina Gershon, and Meg Ryan) will be met by fogged-out windows
and an appointment-only policy.
And it's not because Duarte desires a holier-than-thou, Voyage-esque retail experience.
Rather, the designer explains, "I don't want those guys coming in here and ripping me off
any further" -- referring to the three Palestinian businessmen he joined forces with in 1998
to open his Sunset Blvd. boutique, under the name Henry Duarte.
And, when in February of 2001, Duarte felt he had lost control of the company bearing his
name, he walked out -- without exercising his option as a partner -- leaving the rights to
his name and his designs in the hands of a doctor and two owners of the Subway sandwich chain.
Since then Minkvox, as the new Sunset Blvd. locale is called, has been churning out
Henry Duarte-labeled-and-looking clothing, designed now by a man named Paulo Rosaa.
"The line is influenced by Duarte's designs -- leather cuffs and rock 'n' roll and all --
but we're trying to move it forward. Make it more modern," explains Rosaa, who learned the
trade working under Duarte.
"His stuff looks very vintage. And, nowadays, you see the same style in stores like Bebe."
A trial date is pending, and could take years. Meanwhile, wholesale business for Duarte is
booming. His designs, now under the name Duarte, have been selling out of stores like Maxfield
in L.A., Jeffrey and Barneys in New York, Colette in Paris, and Joyce in Hong Kong.
He's annoyed by the whole fiasco -- likening the Minkvox boys to a bunch of mosquitoes, and
joking that he ought to organize a Battle of the Bands to raise awareness of the situation:
"We'll get S.T.P to play; it'd be great."
As for his new collection: it's ready to be unveiled, in a shop four blocks from Minkvox --
a move that he claims has never before happened in the history of fashion. "No one has lost
the rights to their name, and kept designing right around the corner," says Duarte.
But Shawn Karama, president of Minkvox, says: "He doesn't have the legal right to open a
clothing store and use the name Henry Duarte, or even Duarte. He can open a sandwich shop
if he likes."
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