Zara Are Under Fire For Allegedly Ripping Off This Artist’s Designs

When LA-based artist Tuesday Bassen claimed that Zara had ripped of some of her designs and called them out on their behaviour, she probably didn’t get the response she was expecting.

Writing on her Instagram, Tuesday explains that “Over the past year, [Zara] has been copying my artwork (thanks to all that have tipped me off — it’s been a lot of you). I had my lawyer contact Zara, and they literally said I have no [case] because I’m an indie artist and they’re a major corporation and that not enough people even know about me for it to matter.”

I’m insanely grateful to the press, to all of you, and to other artists like @adamjk @thesearethings @pity_party_corporation who are all coming forward to show that they’ve also been plagiarized by Zara over the past year. At this time, I have not heard from @Zara and plan to pursue this further. I will keep you all updated and thank you again for your support. Thank you.

A photo posted by Tuesday Bassen (@tuesdaybassen) on Jul 21, 2016 at 12:02am PDT

Sharing a pic which showcases the similarities between the designs, Tuesday includes the response she claims she received from Zara, which states that due to a lack of distinctiveness only a small population of people would recognise the designs as hers.

And it seems the internet has already made up its mind on whether or not the designs were copied, with many taking to Twitter to slam the retail giant and support small designers like Tuesday.

This is so gross. That response you got makes me see red. Good luck, @tuesdaybassen. https://t.co/2ZmjoQp6ky

— Lix Hewett (@LixHewett) July 21, 2016

 

I was wondering where Zara suddenly got all that fun creativity game going on. Tuesday Bassen, you deserve all the credit!!!

— Mandy (@mandanatasha) July 20, 2016

Other’s claimed that Tuesday wasn’t the only artist who’s designs had been copied:

.@ZARA‘s @tuesdaybassen knockoffs are 100% shameful – here are a couple other big v small copies I’ve noticed lately pic.twitter.com/YgZ4nbo5rp

— Stay Home Club (@stayhomeclub) July 20, 2016

it’s time to hold @ZARA accountable for stealing from independent creatives like @tuesdaybassen, me & so many others pic.twitter.com/4Poe9VgIZr

— Adam J. Kurtz (@adamjk) July 20, 2016

Now, in light of Tuesday’s claims going viral, Zara’s parent company Inditex has pulled the designs in question and released a new statement to Refinery 29.

It reads:

“Inditex has the utmost respect for the individual creativity of all artists and designers and takes all claims concerning third-party intellectual property rights very seriously.

“Inditex’s legal team is also in contact with Tuesday Bassen’s lawyers to clarify and resolve the situation as swiftly as possible.”