Last chance to save on Digiday Publishing Summit passes is February 9
Ultralight theft: Forever 21 slammed for copying Kanye West’s Life of Pablo shirts
Forever 21’s brand of imitating pricey fashion trends and reproducing them at scale is coming back to bite it.
The fast fashion brand has apparently sensed an opportunity in — or suffered a major bout of FOMO from — Kanye West’s popular Life of Pablo clothing line, which reportedly pulled in nearly a million dollars in just two days at its New York pop-up back in March. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Forever 21 is coming off as incredibly sincere with a West-inspired t-shirt, complete with Olde English-script.
For a mere $34, Forever 21’s shirt reads “Simon de Cyrene for the world,” a biblical reference to a man forced by the Romans to carry the cross of Jesus before his crucifixion. West’s shirt reads “We on an ultra light beam, this is a God,” a lyric from his song Ultralight Beam discussing his relationship with God, according to Genius.
“Forever 21 is ripping off the Pablo merch in the weakest way smh,” a fan tweeted. Another found the most appropriate West reaction:
.@Forever21 Kanye right now pic.twitter.com/T6WJTvc8Vd
— Jake Woolf (@jakewoolf) June 21, 2016
Forever 21 didn’t immediately respond to comment about the similarities.
Of course, it’s not the only retailer to bring Pablo’s pricey merch to the masses. H&M sold knockoff Yeezy shoes in its stores and Zara mimicked Pablo’s oversized street wear collection with looks of its own.
More in Marketing
What Amazon’s proposed big-box store could mean for Walmart
Public documents published by the Village of Orland Park described a 225,000-square-foot Amazon store that would sell a range of products.
Future of Marketing Briefing: AI companies are staffing up for a reputation fight
AI has an image problem, which explains why the industry is suddenly investing so much energy in who gets to tell its story.
Albertsons is putting digital screens for ads in more than a third of its stores
The retail giant has seen enough success in its digital screen network to begin a rollout in 800 of its 2,200-plus stores in 2026.