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
How gaming firm Overwolf quietly became one of the major players in gaming advertising
In August, Comscore released data indicating that Overwolf had become the fourth-most-visited gaming property in the United States, surpassing the platforms of competitors such as Activision Blizzard and Epic Games.
Programmatic marketers sound off on impact of AI-driven ad buys
Agency execs are dealing with AI-based ad buying tools limiting their abilities to optimize campaigns and redefining their value to clients.
A sign of things to come: Experian’s acquisition of Audigent highlights curation’s rising influence
The data broker announced the deal Dec. 4, but stayed tight-lipped on the price.