Soweto entrepreneur and top influencer Tshepo Pitso has set his DMD Muracchini Liniea Italiana merchandise on fire, accusing the clothing brand of exploitation.
Material Don Dada, as he’s widely known in fashion circles, said he was not even willing to donate the items to the needy. He said he believed that the clothing line should have not made it to the streets in the first place.
Contractual and payment issues
Pitso said the relationship between himself and DMD Muracacchini turned sour when he refused to renew his contract with the brand. This would have allowed continuation of his signature line under the brand.
Pitso explained that when the contract expired in January 2019, he turned down the renewal offer following suspicions that he was being exploited.
“I had hoped that they would give me yearly profits but they said they could not pay me before making sales. This is when I opted to be paid at the end of the year. To my surprise I was given something around R100,000. I was shocked because we had been selling out.
“In January I was given another R100,000, approximately. And I was told that we had sold more merchandise in December than the whole of 2018. Since I did not want to renew my contract I was asked to give them enough time. They needed more time to sell the rest of the merchandise. I would still get my 10% share from that. However, that is where worse challenges began,” said Pitso.
Company continued to use his designs
He said they had concluded the end of their relationship after receiving his share from the last sale. However, he was denied access to sale performance of his signature line.
Pitso said he was shocked to realise that even after the contract lapsed, the company continued to use his designs. They also used his signature and picture on items that were never part of the deal.
He said he bought a T-shirt and a backpack in 2021, long after the contract lapsed. The company allegedly never contacted with him concerning his share on the new items that had his name.
“I noticed that they were trying to keep this from me because the new items were never promoted or advertised in any way. I even learnt from my fans. They kept showing me that they have added to the Don Dada collection with items I never knew of.
I obviously shut my mouth and went to purchase them anyway. It is frustrating that I see my signature line and pictures making rounds. But I am not getting anything from that. That is just exploitation at its worst level. I am not going to sit back and watch them play me like that,” said Pitso.
Letter of demand
He was later served with a letter of demand by the brand. They threatened further legal action if he did not comply. This after raging on social media about his torn up relationship with the apparel.
It was demanded that he retracts his posts, refrains from further posting about the brand, and sends out an apology. However, he asserts that he would never turn back on his word.
Loren Lennox, group marketing manager for Studio 88 group of companies, said: “We do not wish to provide our comment. In this regard, we reserve our rights to respond to the allegations against DMD Liniea Italiana at the appropriate time and manner.”
