New York street photographer Brandon Stanton said he was approached by a DKNY representative for permission to buy 300 of his photos to hang in their store windows.
The fashion house offered him $15,000 before a friend told him that $50 per photo was not nearly enough from such an organisation.
On his Humans of New York Facebook page Stanton wrote: ‘So, I asked for more money. They said “no”.’
But a fan subsequently sent him a photo from a store in Bangkok, apparently showing that DKNY had gone ahead and used the images without Stanton’s consent.
‘The window is full of my photos. These photos were used without my knowledge, and without compensation,’ complained the photographer, urging DKNY to donate $100,000 to a YMCA in Brooklyn, on his behalf.
In a statement, entitled ‘DKNY response’ – which appears on the same Facebook page – the fashion chain appears to admit to the mistake.
‘For the Spring 2013 windows program, we licensed and paid for photos from established photography service providers.
‘However, it appears that, inadvertently the store in Bangkok used an internal mock-up containing some of Mr Stanton’s images that was intended to merely show the direction of the spring visual program.
‘We apologize for this error and are working to ensure that only the approved artwork in used.’
The statement adds that DKNY will make a $25,000 donation to the YMCA in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, in Stanton’s name.
