Vans and an art collective settle a dispute over the trademark for the 'Wavy Baby' sneakers

Vans has agreed to settle its lawsuit against the MSCHF art collective over its distorted parody versions of Vans shoes, according to a filing in federal court in New York.

The parties informed the courtopen a new tab on Tuesday that MSCHF will permanently stop selling its “Wavy Baby” shoes and using Vans trademarks under the terms of a confidential settlement agreement.

Vans' parent company, VF Corp, declined to comment. Attorneys and spokespeople for MSCHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment and more information about the settlement.

MSCHF is a Brooklyn-based conceptual art group that specializes in satirizing consumer culture. It was separately sued by Nike in 2021 over its collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X on “Satan Shoes,” a custom Nike Air Max 97 sneaker that allegedly contained a drop of human blood, in a case that was later settled.

Vans sued MSCHF in April 2022 over its “Wavy Baby” sneakers, which alter the classic Vans Old Skool sneaker design with an exaggerated “wavy” structure. MSCHF sold out of all 4,306 pairs of the sneakers within an hour of their release, four days after Vans filed its lawsuit.

Later that month, U.S. District Judge William Kuntz preliminarily blocked MSCHF from advertising or fulfilling orders for the shoes, saying Vans was likely to show they would cause confusion with the company's trademarked design.

MSCHF challenged the decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Its attorney, David Bernstein of Debevoise & Plimpton, told the court that its cartoonish sneakers are not intended “to be worn at all, except as a statement” about consumerism and sneaker culture.

The Second Circuit confirmed Kuntz's decision last year, agreeing that MSCHF's shoes were likely to confuse consumers and rejecting the group's argument that it was entitled to greater constitutional protections that can apply to artwork in trademark cases.