California Apparel News

A small boutique that once operated on Santee Alley is taking Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton to court, arguing that the luxury houses falsely accused the store owners of selling fake handbags, according to court papers.

George and Marijeanne Antounian, who operated Bijou Palace at 1116 S. Santee St., filed a malicious-prosecution lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Aug. 14. They claim the two French labels falsely accused the store owners in 2005 of selling Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior knockoff handbags even though undercover investigators testified the purses were not sold out of their store but in the space next door.

Representatives for Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, both owned by LVMH Moeuml;t Hennessy-Louis Vuitton in Paris, deny wrongdoing.

“Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior vigorously dispute the allegations and will defend themselves against this lawsuit, which they believe is without merit,” said a Louis Vuitton spokesperson, who wished not to be identified.

The Antounians’ lawsuit maintains that Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and their attorneys knew the allegations of copyright and trademark infringement were untrue but continued with their litigation even though the Antounians tried to have the case dismissed in October 2006. “The Antounians’ store, Bijou Palace, sold only costume jewelry and was not in the business of selling purses and wallets,” said their attorney, Sean Macias, in a statement. In court documents, the Antounians said videotape showed that counterfeit items were being sold at other establishments but not theirs. According to the suit, the Antounians believe the person selling counterfeit goods was a street merchant named Gaby who sold goods from a small table and milk-carton stand.

The couple eventually had to close their store, which had been profitable, and liquidate their inventory, Macias added.

Other defendants named in the counterfeit-purse case either had charges dropped against them or settled the case through default judgments.

At the Antounians’ trial in U.S. District Court last year, investigator Arianna Ortiz, who worked for Investigative Consultants, admitted she provided false testimony in identifying Bijou Palace as one of the stores selling knockoffs, when, in fact, the retailer at 1116frac12; S. Santee St. was believed to be peddling counterfeit bags.

Confusing storefronts is not an unusual occurence in Santee Alley, a throbbing thoroughfare in the Fashion District where monthly rents for stores run as high as $15,000. Tenants often sublet some of their spaces for thousands of dollars a month.

The judge ended up dismissing the case against the Antounians and awarding them attorney fees.

Also named in the Antounians’ lawsuit was Kris Buckner, president of Investigative Consultants, a Los Angeles company hired by Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton and other companies to find knockoff apparel and goods. His company was accused of intentional interference of an economic advantage, which his attorney, Robert Damone, said is untrue. “There were a couple of mistakes made in reports, and that was the extent of it,” Damone said. “There was nothing intentional on the part of Investigative Consultants or Kris Buckner.” —Deborah Belgum