Over the past year, Fashion Nova has done more than become the most searched clothing brand on the internet. The online retailer has also proven to us that it can whip up a solid, affordable knockoff of a trendy, higher-end garment in record time.
While the retailer is wicked good at churning out knockoffs, those talents have placed Fashion Nova on Kim Kardashian's bad side! Or … did they?
Kardashian recently ranted on Twitter about how frustrating fast-fashion brands in general have become and how they put a damper on her relationship with reputable designers. At the time, her rant seemingly came from a genuine place, but fans had plenty of mixed feelings.
However, in less than 24 hours, a few receipts tumbled out that have fans questioning whether or not she and Fashion Nova have been sitting at the same table all along. I know you're wondering what in the rich-people-internet-drama is going on here. Shall we start at the beginning?
Although the true beginning of this frenemy relationship between Kardashian and Fashion Nova may not ever be accurately pinpointed, we'll start at the most obvious copycat design: the BOMB pink dress she wore to Kylie Jenner's birthday party in 2018.
Kylie Jenner may have been the star of her 21st birthday, but Mrs. Kim Kardashian-West came to own the night in this hot-pink number designed by none other than her hubby, Kanye West.
The dress was all about wet hair and underboob. No matter how you feel about Kardashian, no one serves up BAWDY in a minidress quite like the Instagram Queen herself.
The Yeezy dress was a HIT, and it still is — on FashionNova.com in hot pink and a few other colors.
It's called the Cut To The Chase Mini Dress ($30, Fashion Nova). The online shop is even using a real photo of Kim Kardashian wearing the dress in its lineup of product images.
The strange part about this knockoff is that I vividly remember this dress going up for sale on the Fashion Nova website just one day after the party — along with BOTH pink outfits that Kylie Jenner wore to her Barbie-esque party.
Knockoffs of the glittery, pink playsuit and hot pink dress that Jenner wore are also still available on Fashion Nova as the Birthday Bash Sequin Romper ($35, Fashion Nova) and the Twenty Fun Satin Dress ($60, Fashion Nova).
Very interesting product names, eh? Jenner's birthday photos are also in the lineup of product images.
As you know, the copycat designs didn't stop there. Fashion Nova has only gotten bolder over time.
Kardashian recently shared this photo of herself wearing a never-before-seen gold number. She was planning to wear it during a trip to Miami, but opted for a different Yeezy design instead.
In her caption, she made sure to address the fast-fashion sharks that she knew were already circling her Instagram feed. Her message: Wait a bit this time, please?
"Fast-fashion brands, can you please wait until I wear this in real life before you knock it off?" she asked retailers.
Although she added a cry-laughing emoji to the end of the note, her message certainly had that "I'm joking, but seriously" tone. This was definitely Kim K's way of letting fast-fashion brands know she's onto their games and that it's not cool.
In response to the dig, Fashion Nova sent Kardashian a "we're joking, but not really" quip of its own via Instagram — a photo of the EXACT design on one of their models complete with a new product name for fans to shop! The SHADE.
Kim K works hard for the money, but Fashion Nova CLEARLY works harder.
"Hey @KimKardashian," the brand wrote in the photo caption. "We Just Couldn’t Help Ourselves. Search: "The IRL Skirt Set."
Yes. You read that right. Fashion Nova even NAMED the design after the exact statement Kardashian made against its knockoff practices.
Strangely, the IRL Skirt Set still isn't actually available on the Fashion Nova website.
Hordes of fans are swarming the brand's Instagram comments inquiring about how to find the design, its cost, and available sizes. Searching the product name yields nothing. Is it possible that Fashion Nova was just trolling Kardashian or taking advantage of a golden PR moment? Probably a little bit of both, given how smart of a business move this whole thing is.
Kardashian didn't even address the brand until it took things a little far for her luxury taste.
She wore this skin-baring vintage Thierry Mugler gown to the 5th Annual Hollywood Beauty Awards on February 17. Kardashian looked like a half-naked bag of money, and the entire internet collectively salivated.
As usual, no one was more excited by this look than Fashion Nova. The brand dropped a photo of its version only 48 hours after photos of Kardashian surfaced online!
I'm seriously starting to think Fashion Nova does voodoo.
"Don't worry, we got you covered," the brand captioned its photo. "Search: 'Winning Beauty Cut Out Gown.' "
As it went for the gold Yeezy design before it, dropping the product name in the brand website's search bar gets you nowhere. Seriously, is Fashion Nova trolling us, Kardashian, or both?
The middle Kardashian sister was NOT happy about this and managed to rip into Fashion Nova without even mentioning its name.
Kardashian called out Fashion Nova for stealing designs from her husband, Kanye West, but also for disrespecting the relationship she took years to build with respected designers in the industry. She also accused the brand of trying to fake a hidden business relationship with her and claimed that she is not in business with any fast-fashion retailers at all.
As sincere as Kardashian's statements seem, the infamous creators behind the Diet Prada Instagram account are calling her bluff!
Diet Prada is an Instagram platform dedicated to exposing knockoff culture in the fashion industry, and this may be its biggest story yet.
The "Dieters" shared a pretty suspicious Instagram story from Yodit Yemane, the Fashion Nova model who wore the copy of the Mugler gown in the promo photos. The story previews photos of her modeling the dress that suggest the images were taken days before Kardashian even appeared at the Hollywood Beauty Awards.
Is your head spinning yet? Seriously same.
"Kim, you’ll never fess up to your sneaky lil collaborations, but we got all the receipts," Diet Prada shared.
By "receipts," Diet Prada means the close-up of Yemane's file names that are labeled "02-14-2019" and titled "Kim's dress."
"Did Fashion Nova whip up the dress overnight in their Los Angeles atelier after seeing Kim in it?" Diet Prada asked. "Or is she peddling her vintage finds to mass retailers ahead of debuting them for a calculated, timely release?"
To be fair, Fashion Nova has denied being in business with Kim Kardashian.
"Kim Kardashian-West is one of the top fashion icons in the world that our customers draw inspiration from," Fashion Nova shared in an Instagram statement. "However, we have not worked with Kim Kardashian-West directly on any of her projects, but have been driven by her influential style.”
But do we believe it, though?
At this point, I'm so confused about everything, and I know nothing. It's undeniably odd that Fashion Nova consistently recreates Kim Kardashian's clothes so quickly. Is fast fashion really that fast? It's also very interesting that Fashion Nova is able to feature Kim Kardashian's actual photos on its website despite assuring customers that there is no relationship. And then there's the weird fact that several other members of the KarJenner clan actually do get a check from Fashion Nova.
Is Kardashian secretly in business with Fashion Nova? Is the Jordyn-Tristan-Khloé scandal all designed to cover up this shoddy fashion deal? Are both scandals just manufactured hype for the upcoming season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians?
Is the sky blue? Is the internet actually the matrix? ARE WE EVEN HERE?! This is too much and I'm going to lie down now.
Fashion Nova? Kim K? Ya'll work it out amongst yourselves.
