Carolina Herrera sues Oscar de la Renta

London - It almost sounds like something taken from a soap opera, although in the fashion industry anything goes. Carolina Herrera is currently suing rival designer fashion house Oscar de la Renta, after a former executive reportedly tried to push out Carolina Herrera of creatively controlling her eponymous fashion label and, after failing, cut all ties with the label to work for Oscar de la Renta.

Laura Kim, the former Vice President at Carolina Herrera, is said to have turned down a 1 million dollar offer from the fashion house CEO Francois Kress to taken on the role of creative director last July, according to the Manhattan lawsuit filed by Herrera, reports Page Six. Instead, Kim was appointed co-creative director at Oscar de la Renta, together with her partner Fernando Garcia this September.

In a letter written in October included in the lawsuit, Neil Capobianco, Kim’s attorney, states his client turned down the offer because she felt she would never have total creative control at the fashion house as the founder never officially stated she was exiting her role as creative director. “Ms. Herrera intended to run CH as if she were the Creative Director. While Laura was supposed to be reporting to Francois Kress, Carolina Herrera frequently took charge, without objection from Mr. Kress,” wrote Capobianco in the letter.

In addition, when Kim made her resignation known to Carolina Herrera, she reportedly said she was not impressed with her designs or Garcia, and would easily replace her, according to WWD. The situation became too much for Kim to bear and she left the company on July 8. However, Carollina Herrera’s attorneys firmly argue in the lawsuit that Carolina Herrera made it clear she wanted Kim to take over creative control. “Kim made it known to CH that she wanted to be creative director, in effect displacing Carolina Herrera herself.”

The suit further states that Kim violated her six month non-completion clause when she took on her new role co-creative director at Oscar de la Renta and seeks to bar Kim from working at the rival fashion house until April, 2017. Since Kim’s exit from Carolina Herrera, the fashion house has lost business with Bergdorf and its resulting fall collection was a flop, states the lawsuit.