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Artist Accuses Zara of Plagiarism, Showing Side-by-Side Comparisons

From Good Housekeeping

It's no secret that fast fashion companies tend to mimic their far pricier counterparts, but a Goliath never wants to get caught taking inspiration from a David. Zara, one of the biggest fashion retail names in the game, is currently under fire after being accused of plagiarizing several designs from an independent artist named Tuesday Bassen.

The artist posted the accusations to her Twitter account, showing side-by-side comparisons between her own work and Zara's designs.

The artist discovered the similarities to her work when fans started reaching out to her, wondering whether she was working with Zara or if the company was plagiarizing her ideas. While she initially stayed silent about the situation, she says she decided to publicly speak out after Zara's lawyers sent her a letter, an excerpt of which she also posted on Twitter.

The letter states that Zara is rejecting her claims because she is a small entity and her designs "lack distinctiveness," thereby making it "very hard to see how a significant part of the population anywhere in the world would associate the signs with Tuesday Bassen."

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Bassen, who has a pretty large fan base on social media, with more than 100K followers on Instagram, says she has already spent $2,000 on getting an initial response. Nevertheless, she has decided to continue her fight against the fast fashion giant. "I plan to pursue this further, even though they are trying to belittle and bully me," Bassen told GoodHousekeeping.com. "It has an awful impact on the livelihood of an artist - this is how I support myself, and they are diluting my brand by literally stealing from me." (GoodHousekeeping.com also reached out to Zara for comment but has yet to receive a response.)

This isn't the first time Zara has been accused of plagiarizing work by independent artists or small brands. Designer and artist Adam J. Kurtz tweeted an image showing more of Zara's designs adjacent to independent artists including Juliette Mallete, Gabriella Sanchez and Kurtz himself.

"I hope one outcome is that I can raise awareness for how often this happens and how few artists can actually afford to pursue it," Bassen says of the accusations against Zara. "I would also like to be compensated for my work."

Follow Sam on Instagram and Twitter.

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