With the rise of fast fashion and the ability to find inspiration anywhere on the internet, it’s become a commonplace occurrence for small brands to accuse bigger brands of plagiarizing their designs. Most recently, Kim Kardashian West and Emily Ratajkowski have faced backlash for producing clothing items that look very similar to those of other designers. But it’s not every day that you see a comedian stepping into the fashion fray to cry “copycat,” until now: Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel just accused the clothing brand Reformation of ripping off designs from his 26-year-old daughter from his first marriage, Katie Kimmel.
“Scumbag move by @reformationx stealing ideas from a young artist (who happens to be my daughter @katiekimmel),” he wrote on Twitter, shortly after Reformation had posted an Instagram of their designs.
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Kimmel provided links to each website to support his argument, showing Katie’s graphic T-shirt designs featuring Italian food phrases written in block lettering, including a “Linguini and Clams” shirt and a “Chicken Parm” tee.
And he compared her work with Reformation’s tops that include the sayings “al dente,” “spaghetti pomodoro” and “cacio e pepe.”
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Commenters on Twitter weren’t necessarily convinced of the similarities.
In response to Kimmel’s tweet, Reformation released a statement to PeopleStyle: “Graphic word tees, sweatshirts, and jackets have been a part of the Reformation brand and design aesthetic since we launched in 2009. We have a deep respect for artistic integrity and would never replicate or appropriate the work of a young artist, or any artist for that matter,” the release states.
It continues: “This T-shirt collection is an extension of our ‘Carb Collection”‘that launched in 2015, inspired by the ‘carb’ in ‘carbon emissions,’ as our brand mission is to provide a sustainable way to be fashionable.”
It’s another branch of activism for the comedian and talk-show host, who has recently used his monologue to address his 7-month-old son Billy’s health issues in the framework of the ongoing political battles over affordable healthcare, most recently addressing Congress’ failure to reinstate CHiP, which provides healthcare to low-income children.