The sign is housed on one of the city's busiest avenues.
Located at 160 Regent Street, in central London, the latter could however be the target of a real vendetta in the days to come.
This Friday, November 18, the artist Banksy, known for his street art and for his impenetrable anonymity, has indeed called on his 11 million followers on Instagram to go and rob the London Guess store.
And for good reason, the shop, he says, used one of his works in its window, without his consent.
Raising awareness of copyright
“Notice to all shoplifters,” he posted in bold on a photo of the store.
There are models dressed in the brand's new collection, and the artist's “Flower Thrower” work, representing a masked man throwing a bouquet of flowers.
“Please meet at Guess in Regent Street.
They happily use one of my works without my consent, he continues.
So it seems normal to me to do like them and go steal their clothes.
Commenting on the post, a user writes: “Thank you for raising awareness about copyright theft!
It's no different from hardware theft and yet.
People act like they have a claim on your work in some way.
They just thought they could get away with it, which makes it so much worse."
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Influence for fashion
The luxury fashion brand for its part made no comment but was quick to close (temporarily?) its address.
On its website, the latter had launched its new collection as having been elaborated with "graffiti of Banksy" and having been created in collaboration with Brandalised, a company granting licenses on the creations of the artist.
Last October, Paul Marciano, co-founder of Guess, spoke about this fall-winter capsule.
"Banksy's graffiti has had a phenomenal influence that resonates throughout popular culture," he said, as reported by the
BBC
.
This new collection with Brandalised is therefore a way for fashion to show our appreciation.”
The initiative started with a good intention.
