OH NO, YOKO
The Beatles widow is being sued for fashion plagiarism. By Jon Swaine
OKO Ono is being sued by a New York designer, who alleges that the 80-year-old artist copied her work for a fashion range supposedly inspired by John Lennon.
Haleh Nematzadeh claims the “1969-2012” menswear series features motifs from her own designs, which she had submitted to a retailer now selling Ono’s clothes.
Ono has said the range — which features $335 trousers and $200 jock straps — was influenced by a set of drawings she gave Lennon as a present when they married in 1969.
“He was a very forward-thinking person, and also he had a really beautiful body,” she told an interviewer late last year. “And I was actually inspired by that.”
But, like several garments designed by Nematzadeh, a 36-year-old IranianAmerican, Ono’s high-priced line contains items featuring distinctive hand-prints on the chest and crotch areas. “Standing up for truth is scary, but I wouldn’t live any other way,” Nematzadeh, who is based in Brooklyn, said on Twitter. She told followers that she was listening to a song whose lyrics feature a New York artist railing against a “forced faker”.
Nematzadeh’s lawsuit alleges that she had submitted pictures of her designs to staff from Opening Ceremony, the boutique now selling Ono’s clothes, hoping that it might begin featuring her work. She claims Opening Ceremony and Ono lifted her designs for their range without consulting her or giving her credit, and dismisses Ono’s “feeble attempt” to explain her influences.
Spokesmen for Opening Ceremony and Ono did not respond to requests for comment. — © The Daily Telegraph