Photograph: Emma McIntyre/Getty Photographs
Trend Nova has as soon as once more discovered itself in sizzling water after seemingly ripping off one other model’s design. This time, it is being accused of copying Black-owned knitwear model Hanifa.
On Monday, Hanifa Founder and Inventive Director Anifa Mvuemba took to Twitter to share photographs of certainly one of her clothes alongside a screenshot of an e-commerce web page that includes a strikingly related piece. “Solely as a result of this pattern took me monthssss to good. That is truly loopy. I am not going to tag or point out them. However that is loopy,” she wrote.
The now-viral tweet saved the copycat’s identify nameless, however commenters had been fast to name out Trend Nova because the offender. Mvuemba declined to remark for this text.
The merchandise in query was Trend Nova’s Sahara Sweater Maxi Costume, which options the identical silhouette, sheer sections and jagged color-blocking as Hanifa’s Jax Knit Robe. What units them aside (except for, presumably, cloth and total high quality) is the discrepancy in worth: Trend Nova’s $49.99 piece is a big markdown from Hanifa’s $459 price ticket. The unique model is at present bought out on Hanifa’s web site.
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From Washington, D.C., Mvuemba has constructed a enterprise on loyal prospects, with out counting on approval from trade gatekeepers, whereas additionally working outdoors of a significant style metropolis. Within the final decade, shea has turn out to be well-known for her daring, fashionable, body-hugging designs and modern runway ideas. Regardless of Hanifa’s success, the model is comparatively small in comparison with a fast-fashion large like Trend Nova.
Photograph:Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Photographs
Clients and Hanifa followers had been fast to amplify Mvuemba’s tweet and share their frustration and outrage over the incident and Trend Nova’s ongoing sample of taking just a little an excessive amount of inspiration from different designers. At press time, the tweet had 21.9K retweets and three,202 quote tweets.
That is removed from the primary time Trend Nova’s been accused of design theft. The Los Angeles-based firm has even been known as out for copying impartial Black designers, particularly. In July 2018, designer Jai Good of Kloset Envy uncovered the model for allegedly stealing her work; in 2019 Luci Wilden of Knots and Vibes caught Trend Nova promoting a chunk similar to her Pores and skin Out Costume, launched in 2017.
Whereas Trend Nova hasn’t commented publicly on the controversy, the outpour of detrimental feedback was seemingly efficient: As of Tuesday afternoon, the Sahara Sweater Maxi Costume product web page had disappeared from the fast-fashion retailer’s web site.
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