Vivienne Westwood apologises for plagiarism

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Mar 6, 2018

British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood has issued an apology on social media for using a slogan in the SS18 collection without having permission from its creators.

The designer, famous for her activism, took to Instagram to apologise to designers Louise Gray and Rottingdean Bazaar following her catwalk show at Paris Fashion Week on Saturday.

Westwood posted a side-by-side image on Instagram showing a t-shirt from her new collection alongside the original Rottingdean Bazaar t-shirt. Both items feature the same print, which reads “We do big sizes! 2XL 3XL 4XL 5XL!!!!”
Westwood’s t-shirt also shows a quote which seems to have been taken from Louise Gray.

“Dear @louisegray__ and @rottingdeanbazaar. We are sorry,” said Vivienne Westwood on Instagram.

“The use of your graphics on our t-shirt was only ever meant to be a celebration of your work. We got caught up in a last minute frenzy and did not contact you to ask for your permission. We are truly sorry about this mistake and want to make it up to you.”

The fashion industry has seen several fashion brands get caught up in plagiarism rows, including Gucci, Jeremy Scott and Roberto Cavalli. Fast-fashion brands like Zara and Forever 21 have been also involved in a number of disputes, raising a dialogue about the differences between inspiration and imitation.