‘Kim ripped off my design’ all the times the Kardashians were accused of ‘stealing’ after Brit influencer’s Skims claims
RECENTLY the fashion giant Kim Kardashian sent her fans into a frenzy with an adorable floral T-shirt.
The cotton ribbed garment, priced at £38, is an everyday classic that boasts a fitted silhouette… and also an allegedly ripped-off design which is reported to belong to a British influencer.
Last week, fashion blogger Camille Charrière shared a side-by-side shots of her ”Baby Tee” with floral prints and a screenshot of the ribbed T-shirt by Skims.
As reported by Daily Mail, the London-based style whizz had worked with the British lingerie company Stripe & Stare to make the £45 wardrobe essential.
However, the garment – which is made from 95 per cent biodegradable products – bares a striking similarity to Kim Kardashian‘s Marigold Rosebud Cotton Rib Tee.
Furious, Camille took to X, formerly known as Twitter, where she called out the reality TV star and socialite.
”Kim K/Skims has ripped off the one project that I put my heart & soul into, waved my fee for, and put out in a bid to platform one of the few brands who isn’t greenwashing,” she said.
”Worst part is felt reluctant to even share this because I feel the Kardashians do this kind of thing on purpose to create friction and stay relevant (whilst making billions).
“What a sad little life Jane.”
But while there has been scepticism about Camille’s claims, this is not the first time the 43-year-old billionaire and mum-of-four (and her sisters) have been accused of stealing designs from other fashion masterminds.
New Year – same Kim, 2023
Last year, just before New Year’s Eve, Kim found herself in some trouble after allegedly copying the design of an Agent Provocateur frock for her Skims dress.
Similarly to the sexy, figure-hugging number by the women’s intimate apparel, Kim’s version was a floor-length silky dress with unique cutouts on the back – which the stylish mum proudly showed off posing for the campaign herself.
However, it wasn’t long before an eagle-eyed social media user noticed several alleged similarities between the two dresses and even managed to find a snap Dorit Kemsley wearing the Agent Provocateur frock in 2021, two years before Kim had launched her version.
‘MAKE SOME EFFORT’
“Looks like KK’s taken ‘inspiration’ from another more established designer again,” one person wrote.
“Dorit Kemsley wore this vintage Agent Provocateur dress to the People’s Choice Awards in 2021. I believe Xtina also wore it in a video.”
The critic went on: “It’s like they’re not even trying to make the stuff they’re shilling look any different from the stuff they’re paying ‘homage’ to anymore.
“I’d have thought, given past heat they got, they’d at least make some effort.”
Met Gala drama, 2023
It looks like Kim must’ve hit a creative block in 2023, as before the New Year’s dress scandal the billionaire had found herself in yet another wardrobe drama at the star-studded Met Gala.
The then 42-year-old made sure all eyes were on her as she appeared a the prestigious fashion event wearing a custom-made Schiaparelli gown made entirely of strands of pearls.
The show-stopper of a look, which made headlines around the world, boasted a whopping 16,000 crystals and more than 50,000 freshwater pearls… as well as an angry designer, Gert-Johan Coetzee, who insisted he’d come up with the design ”first”.
The photo which the designer shared on Instagram showed Laura Govan at the 2022 Grammy Awards wearing a white dress with a similar pearl design and soon went viral.
People quickly flocked to hit back at Kim, with one declaring: “You did it first.”
Another social media user claimed: “Kim Kardashian stole your look,” while a third chimed in: “Come see here how Kim K stole @gertjohancoetzee design!”
Fashion crime alert, 2019
With every new design that lands on the high street, it becomes harder to come up with something completely new – fail, and you may find yourself with an allegation of design plagiarism.
Unfortunately for Kim, this is exactly what happened when she’d curated her sunglass line in collaboration with Carolina Lemke, In Mashable reported.
After launching the summer accessory, Diet Prada – Instagram’s very own fashion police – noticed that something wasn’t quite right and started investigating.
According to the eagle-eyed style lovers, Kim’s design seemed to be very similar to a pair created by designer Emilio Pucci, one which the mum-of-four was spotted wearing in 2018.
This was a bit ironic, as that very same year, in 2019, Kim had sparred against Missguided for putting up a knock-off of a dress worn by the famous celeb.
The fashionista went on a rant on X, writing: ”It’s devastating to see these fashion companies rip off designs that have taken the blood, sweat and tears of true designers who have put their all into their own original ideas.”
No kidding, kids’ clothing line scandal, 2017
Meanwhile, back in 2017, the mum-of-four, came under fire for allegedly copying highly recognisable pieces for her kids’ clothing line.
As explained by Teen Vogue, the Instagram fashion pros, Diet Prada, called out the 43-year-old for two designs, citing a gorgeous silver sequin dress and a black bomber jacket as the biggest culprits.
The latter, they found out after diving deep into social media, looked eerily similar to a number by the Comme des Garçons x Kosho & Co collection.
After being slammed by critics, Kim’s team were quick to hit back, insisting that the designs were an “homage” to the fashion giants, adding they’d ”intended to donate the profits from those items to charity,” Page Six reported.
Khlo no!
Unfortunately Kim is not the only Kardashian to face copyright issues – back in 2020, sister Khloe, 39, had found herself in legal trouble with her denim brand, Good American.
The reality TV star her partners were sued by a lesser-known designer Destiney Bleu and bosses at LA-based company dbleudazzled, who were seeking a staggering £7million in damages after accusing the mum-of-two ”of ripping off their bodysuit designs after purchasing pieces for her personal use’,” Yahoo! reported.
The original suit – which has since been dismissed after the two came to a mutual agreement – accused Khloe’s Good American ”of fraud and deceit, common law trade dress infringement, misappropriation, and unfair competition”.
It argued the influencer had “purchased and borrowed numerous pieces of Plaintiff’s clothing, under the false pretense that the clothing items were for Kardashian’s personal use”.
Instead, dbleudazzled claimed that Khloe actually had plans of creating her own clothing line with similar designs.
“Good American decided it would be easier to knock off the proven designs of an independent designer,” the suit read.
Kylie stealing for Khy
Earlier this year, in March, fashion designer Jessica Johansen-Bell publicly accused the Kylie Cosmetics founder of taking her designs.
In the nearly two-minute video, the Johansen founder explained how her brand had launched a collection almost four years ago, whereas Kylie’s Khy version had come out later.
The Byron Baes star also share snaps and compared Johansen’s twisted shoulder dresses to Khy’s one-shoulder twist dresses.
“Guys, am I tripping? Or did Kylie Jenner rip off my entire collection?” Jessica said.
“So I reached out to her team, and they reached back pretty quickly. And they said: ‘We developed these designs through our team’s hard work and innovation.'”
“If you look up the meaning of innovation, it means a new idea. You guys are an inspiration,” she concluded.
In late February, the youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner brood promoted her one-shoulder suede minidress in a behind-the-scenes shot from her photo shoot.
‘Trash move!’
This is not the only time the self-made billionaire has been accused of stealing designs for her clothing line.
A year before the one-shoulder dress scandal, which led the star to being subbed ”diabolical” by critics, the fashion mogul was slammed by designer Betsy Johnson.
As reported by Daily Mail, Betsy claimed the concepts of Kylie’s ”affordable clothing line” had been copied from her label, Products.
“We emailed Kylie and all her team @products.ltd concept and language and a line sheet 6 MONTHS AGO,” she wrote on Instagram.
“INTERESTING CONCEPT KYLIE:…INTERESTING.”
“Thanks for the co-sign. F**k your support.”
Betsy also shared a spreadsheet containing info about her student loan repayment and said she was due £48,294.43.
“While I stare @ my student debt.
“Worked my a** off for this. Like so many other working-class kids who bust their a** for the expertise they weren’t born into to realize their ideas.”
The Jenner has not responded to Betsy’s accusations.
Bad taste from Kendall
The billionaire family are no strangers when it comes to controversies of stealing others’ work – and Kendall Jenner is no exception.
In 2021, the young model was slammed by a tequila company who accused the Jenner star of “copying” their brand and told The Sun they demand she changed 818’s name.
Texas-based company Tequila 512 bashed the 28-year-old on social media with a striking image that showed a message from a baffled shopper inquiring about the parallels.
The customer, named Aaron, asked: “Is that you or did someone copy you?”
Both Tequila 512 and Kendall’s 818 feature a similar bold black font that begins bigger at the top and shrinks towards the bottom.
The only difference appears to be yellow backing that’s behind the branding to make words pop against the clear glass.
The names, too, are similar and happen to be derived from the same inspiration – with 512 being the area code where the company is based (Austin, Texas), and 818 – where Kendall lives in Calabasas, California.
What’s more, 512 slammed Kendall even further, after pointing out that she uses the same agave farm and distillery their brand uses in Jalisco, México.
They wrote: “You may have seen that @kendalljenner released a “new” tequila today.
“Note the similarities, including the color, the name and it is made at the same distillery in Tequila Mexico as ours.
“Their batches are being distilled twice. Ours three times. Yet she is charging twice as much per bottle.
“And here we are getting messages like the one in this post image. Doesn’t seem very cool. What do you think?”
In a statement to The Sun, 512’s CEO Nick Matzorkis wondered how it would be “plausible” for the model to research and visit other distilleries in the Mexican to produce her tequila – but not come across a brand that’s “been around for 8 years and unanimously won Best in Show at prestigious world spirits competitions.
Nick said: “Tequila 512 will not be taking legal action against Kendall Jenner or her tequila brand, nor are we looking for an apology.
“We are, however, calling on her to change the name of her tequila and/or change the labelling to create a clear distinction.
“Confusion began in the marketplace as soon as they launched, given that Tequila 512 had just begun distribution in California in recent weeks starting in the 166 store Bevmo chain where they too are distributed.”