Earlier this year, fashion giant DKNY approached Humans of New York blogger, Brandon Stanton, and offered to pay the photographer $15,000 to use his photos as part of their Reflections of New York campaign. Stanton demanded that DKNY pay him more for the photos, which the fashion brand refused to do, and so Stanton believed that the matter was at rest.
Until his photos turned up in a DKNY store located in Bangkok…without his permission.
After an aggressive social media campaign led by Stanton and his fans, DKNY has now apologized to the photographer and is donating $100,000 to the YMCA in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. DKNY claims that they were unaware that the 300 photos used in their Bangkok location belonged to Stanton.
“We have immense respect for Brandon Stanton aka Humans of New York and approached him to work with us on this visual program. He declined to participate in the project,” said DKNY on their Facebook page. “However, it appears that inadvertently the store in Bangkok used an internal mock up containing some of Mr Stanton’s images… We apologize for this error and are working to ensure that only the approved artwork is used.”
A fan had notified Stanton that his pictures were being unrightfully displayed in Bangkok. Outraged, Stanton posted a picture of the store’s display case and demanded that DKNY donate $100,000 to the Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA, a move he saw as just. His post immediately caught the world’s attention, and the image soon made its way around Facebook, prompting DKNY’s apology.
“These photos were used without my knowledge, and without compensation,” Stanton wrote. “That donation would sure help a lot of deserving kids go to summer camp. I’ll let you guys know if it happens.”