Forever 21 vs. Feral Childe

Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, but many designers feel that Forever 21 is a brand that takes the phrase too far. The popular clothing store is being sued by Feral Childe, whose designers claim that Forever 21 blatantly ripped off a pattern from an item and labeled it as their own. This is not the first time the store has been embroiled in a copyright infringement scandal, as Diane von Furstenberg, Gwen Stefani, and Anna Sui have all filed lawsuits accusing the company of taking designs.

The design in question is a pattern featured in Feral Childe’s Fall 2009 “School Play” collection, where a blouse is scattered with miniature hand-drawn scratchmarks, called “Teepees.” Alice Wu and Moriah Carlson, of the accusing party, say that Forever 21 chose to recreate this style on an off-white romper.

In an interview with Ecouterre, the designers dish:

“The Forever 21 garments appear to reproduce Teepees exactly. If compared side by side you would not be able to distinguish any difference in the artwork. It’s frustrating that this enormous company, with over a billion dollars a year in revenues, would dare to poach the artistic creations of a small company such as ours.”

Forever 21 is not new to accusations like this, so it is hard to understand how the multi-billion dollar franchise is still in business. However, it is hard to deny the major similarities between the two items. Let us know what you think!