Spanish fast-fashion brand Zara, not for the first time, has been accused of ripping off another artist for the sake of its designs: this time, independent artist Tuesday Bassen. Bassen is known for her very Instagrammable, cheeky designs that she sells on her website in the form of apparel, pins and patches.
Bassen was alerted to Zara’s copycatting by her substantial social media following and has since contacted the affordable-fashion empire through an attorney. The brand has refused to own up to the theft and has stated that, since Bassen’s brand is rather obscure, she can’t claim ownership to her own designs, as they aren’t widely recognized enough to be attributed exclusively to her. Bassen has taken to Instagram to express her frustration towards Zara and explain the process behind trying to sue one of the world’s largest brands.
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Bassen has already reportedly spent thousands of dollars trying to take legal action against the company, who responded:
We reject your claims here for reasons similar to those already stated above: the lack of distinctiveness of your client’s purported designs makes it very hard to see how a significant part of the population anywhere in the world would associate the signs with Tuesday Bassen.
Bassen has since tweeted that, despite obstacles, she’s gotten further legally as an independent artist than many other freelancers and designers who have faced similar problems with huge corporations, and is determined to see the lawsuit through to the end. Sadly, Bassen isn’t the only one who’s been ripped off by Zara—other popular indie-artists like Adam J. Kurtz, Georgia Perry, Big Bud Press and more have also faced problems with the brand. Kurtz tweeted about it on Wednesday:
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