Discounter Aldi has lost a High Court battle with makeup artist and brand owner Charlotte Tilbury over a “lookalike” makeup line, with the judge describing the similarities between the two as “substantial”.

Makeup artist and owner of the beauty brand of the same name, Charlotte Tilbury initially bought legal action over a breach of copyright against Aldi in December – accusations the discounter denied at the time.

However, the High Court found that the packaging of Aldi’s ‘Lacura Broadway Shape and Glow’, which retailed at £6.99, borrowed heavily from the design of Tilbury’s ‘Filmstar Bronze and Glow palette’, which sells for £49.

Aldi sold some 20,000 units of the lookalike bronzers before the action was bought and could be faced with paying substantial damages to Tilbury’s company Islestarr Holdings.

Tilbury’s Filmstar Bronze and Glow palette has generated sales of nearly £13m for her brand since it first went to market some six years ago.

Judge John Linwood said: “[Islestarr] allege Aldi saw the success of the Filmstar palette and decided to copy features, so as to produce its own versions.

“Islestarr say it demonstrates Aldi’s ethos of selling lookalike versions of well-known brands cheaply to encourage footfall in their stores”.

An Aldi spokesman said: “This matter relates to a product that was on sale for a very short period around December 2018. The dispute has since been fully resolved.”

He would not confirm the size of the damages awarded to Tilbury.

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