The long-simmering legal battle between G-III Apparel Group and PVH Corp. is heating back up — revealing more details about how the one-time besties saw their relations devolve as the U.S. wholesale licenses for Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein reverted back to PVH.
Last week PVH pushed back on allegations that it improperly denied G-III the right to renew women’s suit licenses for its two star brands, answering claims G-III first made in New York state court last year. PVH also offered counterclaims that “arise out of G-III’s willful and deliberate breaches of its contractual obligations to the brand owners, to the detriment of their iconic and highly valuable Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands.”
The flood of paperwork filed with the court last week included 39 exhibits tied to PVH’s case, including an unusual letter PVH’s board sent to G-III’s independent directors in March 2025, accusing Morris Goldfarb, chairman and chief executive officer, of “misconduct.”
The exhibit was posted publicly on the court docket, but was blocked after WWD asked both companies for comment late Tuesday. PVH had no comment. A G-III spokesperson said, “These allegations are false and disparaging and clearly meant to distract from PVH’s own misconduct, and we will continue to address this through the legal process.”
Goldfarb made no secret of his frustration when PVH CEO Stefan Larsson moved in 2022 to unwind the two companies’ longstanding licensing arrangements, which would be phased out over a number of years.
But in its board-to-board letter, PVH alleged something more than frustration.
PVH claims Goldfarb reached out to its then-chief financial officer Zachary Coughlin for a meeting in March last year. The agenda was “how PVH can help me and how I can help PVH.”
At Zuma New York on Madison Avenue the two met for an hour and 45 minutes, with Goldfarb asking to extend the still active licensing agreements and Coughlin explaining why that would be “difficult.”
“Toward the end of the meeting, Mr. Goldfarb became agitated over Mr. Coughlin’s stance and stated to Mr. Coughlin that, ‘You’re lucky you don’t have a bullet in your head.’ Mr. Coughlin promptly asked Mr. Goldfarb about the statement and provided him the opportunity to rescind the threat. Mr. Goldfarb instead stated, ‘When you steal someone’s business it’s natural they want to kill someone,’” the letter read.
PVH referred to this exchange in other court documents last year, but only identified the person making the threat as “a senior executive at G-III.”
In the letter revealed last week, PVH said the exchange was not the first of its kind, pointing to a 2023 meeting Goldfarb had with Donald Kohler, who was then president of Calvin Klein for the Americas.
“Mr. Goldfarb stated that PVH’s approach was ‘risky,’ and that PVH should be ‘careful’ in how it engaged with G-III. Mr. Kohler responded: ‘Oh, come on Morris, we live with risk every day in this business and in life….I could step out of here today and get hit by a bus on Seventh Avenue…but I cannot worry about that or nothing will get done,’” the letter said. “Mr. Goldfarb replied by stating that Mr. Kohler did not need to worry about something like that, but suggested that someone could ‘push’ Stefan Larsson, PVH’s chief executive officer, ‘in front of that bus.’”
For two companies that grew up in the rough and tumble of New York’s Seventh Avenue, some tough language might be expected, but PVH’s board claimed Goldfarb had gone too far.
“These threats have already caused real and immediate harm to PVH’s employees and their families, and we have implemented additional security measures for Messrs. Larsson and Coughlin as a result,” the letter claimed.
PVH’s directors also noted that the statements violate G-III’s own code of conduct and asked that G-III “take immediate action to address Mr. Goldfarb’s misconduct and protect the safety of PVH’s employees and their families.”
It is not clear how G-III’s independent directors responded.
Already the case has unveiled the inner workings of a break up between two of New York fashion’s highest-profile players. And the court room showdown is still gearing up.
