Dodgeville, WI—Hoping that its consumers will be true to their schools, general merchandise giant Lands’ End will launch the Alumni Collection, a line of apparel embroidered with logos of 35 universities and colleges, in its October catalog. Lands’ End appointed John Maher to serve as the director of licensing, a new position. Maher joined Lands’ End in 1983 and has held various positions including managing director of retail. In 1996, he was named director of sales and marketing for the corporate sales division of Lands’ End. He will report to Lee Eisenberg, executive vice president/creative director. Lands’ End says it will expand the product offering and the number of participating schools in the spring of 2002.
In other company news, Lands’ End has sued corporate apparel cataloger American Image for trademark infringement. The lawsuit cites the cover of the spring 2001 catalog for American Image Corporate Image Apparel, featuring fabric swatches with corporate logos on a cork background. According to Lands’ End’s complaint, that’s identical to the cover of its fall 2000 corporate sales catalog, as well as to similar catalogs from 1998 and 1996. Lands’ End also alleges that American Image displays its name in plain, white lettering on a blue rectangular label with a horizontal line above the name, similar to Lands’ End. The lawsuit seeks a court injunction preventing American Image from using the label and asks for triple damages and unspecified punitive damages. American Image did not return phone calls.