When you walk into a store, you probably assume that what you'll be buying is a 100% original from the brand. But unfortunately, that may not necessarily be the case. Recognizing originality has always been a problem within the fashion industry, and it happens more frequently with independent brands.
Here are 12 times when larger brands were accused of copying indie brands.
In 2016, Forever 21 was accused of copying a sweatshirt by Sporty and Rich.
As Fashionista noted, the sweatshirt was in the same color, but read "Smart and Pretty" instead. It's unknown if Forever 21 responded to the backlash, but the item is no longer sold on its website.
Also in 2016, Zara was accused of copying Tuesday Bassen's work.
Bassen definitely wasn't the only one to call the company out.
Zara's sister store Bershka was accused of copying the work of Bassen's friend Adam J. Kurtz too. Kurtz decided use it as a call to action.
Kurtz made a website called Shop Art Theft that called out occasions when brands copied smaller brands and artists. According to his website, Zara has copied over 20 indie artists.
After a lot of back and forth, Zara finally admitted defeat. Its parent company, Inditex, stated that it had "suspended the relevant items from sale," according to a statement Zara gave to The Cut about Bassen's designs. "We are also currently investigating other allegations of illustrations used on badges provided by external suppliers on a case by case basis."
In 2017, Forever 21 was accused of copying WORD's "The Creator" T-shirts.
An agency called WORD created the T-shirts to uplift women and donate 25% of the proceeds toward Planned Parenthood, according to its website. Forever 21's version removed some of the text and was sleeveless, but had a very similar design to WORD's.
Forever 21 stated that it got the shirts from a "third party source" and eventually removed the product from its site, according to a statement given to Teen Vogue.
Forever 21 and Rue 21 were accused of copying items by Valfré last year.
Although Valfré isn't that small, it's still relatively new (it launched in 2013) in comparison to bigger brands. "People come to Valfré for unique products that aren't mass produced," artist Ilse Valfré said to Fashionista in 2017. "Forever 21 is in the business of mass producing and that's how they are able to offer the pricing that they do."
Forever 21 allegedly copied a rainbow phone case, while Rue 21 allegedly copied Valfré's lipstick, a seashell phone case, and a "boys tears" milk carton design. The items are no longer up on the Forever 21 and Rue 21 websites.
Khloe Kardashian's line Good American was accused of copying indie label Dbleudazzled's designs.
After seeing a 2017 Good American promotional video, someone noticed how similar the bodysuit designs were to Destiney Bleu's. Although the pieces Kardashian released ultimately didn't resemble Bleu's, it was definitely a controversial moment for the brand.
In 2017, Kylie Jenner's "The Kylie Shop" was accused of copying Plugged NYC's designs.
Last year, Jenner's brand released camouflage items that many noted looked exactly like Plugged NYC's camo-print items, according to The Fader. It's unknown if Jenner's team ever responded to the controversy.
ALSO at The Kylie Shop, Jenner's flame merch got attention after the shop was accused of copying Cake Asia's flame merch.
As Seventeen noted, both brands even had the rapper Offset wear the clothes. Of course, The Kylie Shop and Cake Asia aren't the first ones to feature flames on their items, as many other brands have used flame designs in the past. It's unknown if Jenner ever responded to the accusations.
In 2017, ASOS was accused of copying a jacket from indie brand Laurie Lee Leather.
According to Fashionista, the brand allegedly copied the jacket after seeing it at a showroom. Designer Laurie Lee Burley called the brand out on Instagram, and ASOS eventually removed the design and issued a statement to Fashionista, stating, "We take IP concerns extremely seriously and immediately took the jacket off our site while we investigate further."
Indie designer Laurel Hill accused Anthropologie of replicating her earring design, according to Refinery29.
Hill, who previously sold a similar earring style to Anthropologie's sister store Free People in 2015, was surprised when the copycat design, which was allegedly brought to Anthropologie by another vendor, was sold at the store. Hill called out the brand on Instagram, while also telling Refinery29 that Anthropologie had previously wanted to reorder different items from her at too low of a price, so she turned them down — but images of the earrings it later allegedly copied were in this email conversation.
Anthropologie eventually issued a statement and removed the earrings.
Indie designer Katie Thierjung's pins were quite similar to the ones in the Marc Jacobs Resort 2017 line, according to Teen Vogue.
Thierjung noticed replicas of her pins, as well as replicas of two other artists' pins, in the line, and decided to voice her concerns on Instagram.
"Us independent artists work way too hard to have our designs stolen by larger companies. This is our passion, our means of living, and to have that taken from us is completely unacceptable," Thierjung said on Instagram. It's unknown if the Marc Jacobs brand responded to her claims.
ModCloth was accused of copying a For All Womankind T-shirt in 2017.
The Femme Fist design was made by Deva Pardue in response to the election. The design was eventually put on a T-shirt, and some of the funds went to non-profits.
ModCloth eventually removed its own design, according to Fast Company. “As soon as we were made aware of the image, we removed the top from the site in November,” a ModCloth spokesperson told Fast Company. “It is no longer available at all."
Not all ripoffs result in bad blood between brands. In 2017, Gucci and designer Dapper Dan had a VERY interesting exchange that resulted in a cool collaboration.
Now this one is a little bit more complicated. Dan had his independent shop in Harlem for decades, and often repurposed name-brand items for his shop. Dan's shop closed years ago, but in 2017, Gucci showed a jacket for its Resort 2018 collection that looked VERY similar to one of Dan's designs.
But instead of pushing it aside, Gucci and Dapper Dan joined forces, with Gucci supplying many materials for Dan's new shop, according to GQ. Definitely a happy ending!
Although brands may continue to be "inspired" by indie artists, hopefully they'll start to reach out and fairly compensate indie companies before getting called out on social media.
In the meantime, the Twitterverse will just have to keep their Spidey senses up when shopping.
