San Franciscans love transit merch, from BART’s annual ugly sweaters to bucket hats, tees, and soccer jerseys with Muni’s iconic “worm” logo. Getting in on the action, local fashion brand Baggu created a custom line of hats and water bottles adorned with what looks like BART’s logo to celebrate the Friday launch of its store at 888 Valencia St.
There’s just one problem: It wasn’t a “collab,” and BART had no idea that it was happening.
“It is not a partnership, and we are surprised to see our logo,” BART communications director Alicia Trost told The Standard. “We don’t blame them for wanting to associate with our awesome brand, and we are thrilled they love us this much. But it would be nice if they reached out to us and perhaps share some of the profit, since we are in a financial crisis.”
Indeed, Bay Area transit agencies, including BART, have been on the brink of insolvency since the pandemic decimated ridership. State officials have said that they’re working on adding a loan worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the budget by January to float BART and other transit agencies, which otherwise may be forced to severely cut services.
Photos of the gear gained thousands of likes and drew comments describing the merch as “absolute fire” and the “collab of the year.” Anyone who spends more than $50 on Baggu products on opening day will get to choose one of the items as a gift, the store posted on social media.
While BART has a trademark on its “BA” logo, Trost did not say whether the agency would pursue legal action against the bag company. Representatives of Baggu did not respond to a request for comment.