FASHION ‘THEFT’ – CONFIDENTIAL:
GREAT SCOTT, that looks familiar. Fashion star Jeremy Scott is being accused of borrowing ideas from other designers. Again. And this time, style watchers who have pointed out the coincidence between Scott’s latest creations and those of late Italian artist Rene Gruau say they’re being silenced.
During Fashion Week, Scott, who heads up the Moschino fashion house, rolled out a new line featuring models, including Gigi
Hadid dressed as a flower bouquet (inset). That seemed awfully familiar to fashionistas who first started buzzing about the similarities to Gruau’s 1950s illustrations in September.
But when Scott took credit for those bouquet designs again on Halloween, the buzz reached a fever pitch, led by textile designer
Matthew Bobbins.
“Jeremy Scott blatantly and, without remorse, stole this design with every detail,” Bobbins wrote on Instagram. Several other style watchers followed Bobbins’ lead, but say they were “blocked” by Scott’s team at Moschino and even claim their accusations were deleted from the design house’s Instagram page.
On Scott’s personal page is a picture of flowery Halloween costumes with a note from the designer, thanking trick or treaters for taking inspiration from his line, without mention of Gruau.
“IM SO FLOORED BY ALL THE AMAZING COSTUMES INSPIRED BY MOCHINO BOUQUET” reads Scott’s personal post. Even this week, Scott continues to post photos of his Gruau-esque designs with one of them reading “MERCI BOUQUET” to his 1.6 million followers.
This isn’t the first time Scott’s been accused of borrowing ideas.
Last year, Moschino reportedly settled a copyright lawsuit with graffiti artist Joseph Tierney who claimed Scott used his art on clothing from his fall/winter 2015 collection that was worn by Hadid and singer
Katy Perry. Scott also reportedly settled a copyright infringement case with graphic designer Jimbo Phillips, who charged that his art was imitated by Scott’s 2013 line.
Gruau worked as an illustrator for magazines, including Marie-Claire and L’Officiel, before heading commercial campaigns for Dior and Air France. He died in 2004 at age 95.
“There’s a very easy way to respectfully give credit for being influenced and there’s a line here that’s been crossed,” Bobbins told us.
Reps for Moschino did not respond to requests for comment.