German sportswear giant Adidas has launched legal action against Australian fast-fashion brand White Fox Boutique in the Federal Court of Australia, accusing the label of infringing its iconic three-stripe trademark by selling and promoting clothing with a four-stripe design.
The lawsuit, filed on September 18, alleges that White Fox’s four-stripe activewear and loungewear are “substantially identical with or otherwise deceptively similar” to Adidas’s trademarked design, which has been protected in Australia since 1957.
During the first court hearing in Sydney on Friday, Adidas’s barrister Patrick Flynn SC argued that White Fox had been using the stripes as a trademark for months and accused the brand of deliberately leveraging Adidas’s global reputation.
“There’s an intention to trade off our reputation,” Flynn told the court. “This is a pretty simple matter.”
Adidas claims it repeatedly requested that White Fox cease selling and promoting the four-stripe garments since March 2026, but the Sydney-based company refused.
White Fox’s legal team denied any breach of trademark during the hearing. Barrister Ed Heerey KC told Justice Ian Jackman that the Australian company would argue the four stripes on its clothing are “simply decorative rather than a trademark”.
Heerey highlighted that other prominent Australian brands – including Princess Polly, Glassons, Shein, Cotton On, and Sportscraft – also sell clothing with similar four-stripe designs.
“Obviously Adidas has a reputation,” Heerey said. “Their own slogan is that it’s the brand with three stripes. Emphasis on the three.”
The defence also plans to interrogate whether consumers would actually be misled by the design, noting that the 2013 judgment in Adidas’s favour found branding on the side of shoes was common, but there was no such common practice for clothing.
Adidas’s statement of claim includes allegations that White Fox used models wearing “genuine” Adidas items in advertisements promoting its four-striped clothing and White Fox-branded socks.
According to court documents, one June 2025 online listing showed a pair of White Fox-branded socks being modelled by someone wearing pink Adidas shoes.
Adidas alleges that after legal proceedings were lodged, the Adidas logo on the shoes was digitally altered to remove one stripe, and a week later, all three stripes were scrubbed from the image.
Adidas argues this could lead Australian consumers to believe the two brands are associated or that Adidas has approved the design.
Adidas has a long history of defending its three-stripe trademark. In 2013, the company successfully sued Pacific Brands in Australia over shoes bearing four stripes.
However, the sportswear giant has also faced setbacks. It recently lost trademark infringement cases against luxury brand Thom Browne in the US, UK, and Germany over Browne’s four-stripe designs.
The White Fox case presents a different legal question under Australian law. Under Section 120 of the Trade Marks Act 1995, infringement can occur if a sign is “substantially identical or deceptively similar” to a registered trademark.
Adidas is seeking orders to prevent White Fox from making clothing with four stripes, as well as an account of profits from the products, damages, interest, and costs.
Justice Ian Jackman has set the dispute down for a three-to-four-day trial in early 2027.
Founded in Sydney in 2013 by Georgia and Daniel Contos, White Fox has grown into a fast-fashion powerhouse popular with teenagers and young adults in Australia, the UK, and the US.
The brand generated AU$542 million ($377 million) in revenue in the 12 months to June 2025, a fourfold increase from its 2022 figure.
The company, privately owned by the Contos couple and Daniel’s mother Melina Maceri, has built its profile through aggressive influencer marketing and outdoor advertising on buses and billboards in Sydney, London, and Los Angeles.
Neither White Fox nor Adidas responded to requests for comment outside of court proceedings.
