At a glance
- The ruling: on 11 November 2026, the interim relief judge of the Amsterdam District Court dismissed the claim of Dutch label Wandler, which accused Loewe of copying its Ida bag with the Whisker.
- The parties: Wandler’s designer and her company, against Loewe S.A. (Madrid) and Loewe Holanda B.V., the subsidiary that runs Loewe’s stores in the Netherlands. Loewe belongs to the LVMH group.
- The reasoning: the Ida is protected by copyright, but the Whisker reworks its features in its own way and keeps an original character.
- The counterclaim: Loewe, which claimed rights over the Ida’s zip strip, also lost.
- The costs: Wandler pays 2,101 euros in legal costs. The ruling is provisional and does not rule out proceedings on the merits.
This is not a distribution case but a design dispute. A young Dutch label accused Loewe of borrowing the lines of its best-selling bag. The Amsterdam judge recognises the originality of the Ida but refuses to see the Whisker as an infringing copy. The ruling, reference ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2026:11138, was published on 12 November 2026.
Amsterdam interim ruling of 11 November
Wandler summoned Loewe on 30 September 2026, and the hearing took place on 28 October. The label asked for sales of the Whisker to stop in the Netherlands and for Loewe to disclose its production and sales figures, under penalty payments, with six months to bring proceedings on the merits. The court held that it had jurisdiction over both Loewe companies, since the Dutch subsidiary is based in Amsterdam and the bag is sold online and in stores in the Netherlands. Dutch law applies, which nobody disputed.
Wandler’s Ida, a protected work
Founded in 2017, the designer’s company creates bags and small leather goods priced between 500 and 1,200 euros, sold first in the Benelux, then in the United States and German-speaking Europe. The Ida, from the autumn 2025 collection, was shown to some 400 buyers in Paris in January 2025, then in New York in February, before the Paris show in May. The first piece was sold on 4 July 2025.
Loewe argued that these choices were trivial or dictated by function. The judge disagreed. The combination of ten design choices, from the sides folded into flat feet to the zip strip that overhangs the bag, reflects in his view the personality of its author. Loewe had cited bags with some of these features, never all of them together.
Five features shared with the Whisker
Unveiled by Loewe at Paris Fashion Week in March 2026, the Whisker has been on sale worldwide since late August. Wandler wrote to the Spanish house as early as 9 March; Loewe rejected the accusation on 12 March, and the talks that followed led nowhere. The judge notes that the Whisker shares with the Ida flat feet on the sides, a curved body with a low waist, tubular elements along the top edges, an octagonal base and a strongly overhanging zip strip. He also finds it “not very plausible” that Loewe was unaware of Wandler, as both brands are sold through the same channels.
Why did the judge reject the copy claim?
Because each shared feature is executed differently. The Ida’s feet are reinforced by a stiff edge, the Whisker’s are not. The octagonal base is far more pronounced at Loewe, with other proportions, and the waist more marked. The downward curve at the top exists only on the front of the Whisker, whose back is straight and higher. Above all, the Whisker is built asymmetrically and tilts forward, the collapsed look Loewe intended, whereas the Ida shows a fig-shaped silhouette in profile.
The judge’s conclusion: Loewe gave these features its own creative expression, and the Whisker has its own original character. He therefore did not need to decide whether the bag was inspired by the Ida or by the house’s own heritage, as Loewe claimed.
Loewe’s counterclaim dismissed too
Loewe hit back by claiming its own rights over the zip strip, which it said featured on its Madrid and Strip Shoulder Bag models, and asked for Wandler to be barred from saying the house had copied it. The judge dismissed everything: the strip overhangs on one side only on the Madrid and asymmetrically on the Strip Shoulder Bag, whereas the Ida’s follows a different curve and ends in rounded tips. As for public statements, Wandler had made none outside the proceedings.
What the ruling leaves open
In interim proceedings, a claim is granted only if it seems likely to succeed on the merits. The assessment is therefore provisional, and nothing prevents Wandler from bringing a full action. The 2,101 euro costs order is immediately enforceable; costs on the counterclaim are set at nil. For luxury houses, the message is clear: a designer bag can be protected by copyright, but an overall resemblance is not enough to prove copying. To learn more about the house, see how Loewe became a luxury icon in 180 years and the most expensive bags in the world.
| Court | Amsterdam District Court, interim relief judge |
| Ruling | 11 November 2026, published on 12 November |
| Reference | ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2026:11138, KG ZA 26-820 |
| Claimants | Wandler’s designer and her company |
| Defendants | Loewe S.A. and Loewe Holanda B.V. (LVMH group) |
| Bags at issue | Ida (Wandler, autumn 2025) and Whisker (Loewe, 2026) |
| Legal basis | copyright, no distribution issue |
| Outcome | claims dismissed on both sides |
| Costs | 2,101 euros payable by Wandler |
Information checked on 14 November 2026. Sources: Amsterdam District Court ruling of 11 November 2026 (rechtspraak.nl), Loewe, Whisker bag, LVMH, the group’s maisons.
