It looks like lesser-known designers might have to tighten their grip on their creations, after allegations of stolen designs surfaced earlier today involving major fashion chain Glue.
Warwick Levy, 23, who heads up budding t-shirt brand Lonely Kids Club, has claimed that one of his label's most popular designs was stolen by urban clothing brand JXcess and sold exclusively to the Glue chain. The design in question was a white T-shirt branded with a lopsided triangle which enclosed the word “OVERRATED”.
The T-shirt went on sale for Lonely Kids Club last October and sold out. But only weeks ago, JXcess put its tag on an very similar shirt featuring the word 'OVERKILL' that went on sale in Glue's 28 nationwide stores.
Levy told FashionChannel.com.au that his screen printer saw the tee an initially thought it was Levy's, only to find it had been reprinted and slightly modified by another brand. Levy said the most upsetting part of the debacle was JXcess' lack of integrity in comparison with other contemporary Aussie labels. “I have so much respect for the Australian fashion scene... so it was sad to see another clothing label behaving in such a way.”
The disappointed young designer has taken his campaign to social media, tweeting a side-by-side shot of the two products with a cheeky “Yo, spot the difference” caption to the GlueStore Twitter account. GlueStore CFO Scott Luckett has reportedly told news.com.au that the company was unaware of JXcess' alleged transgressions but had since removed the items from sale pending further investigations.
