Forever 21 Knocks Off Indie Designer With 'Smart & Pretty' Sweatshirt

Forever 21 is back at it again with the knocking off.

Emily Oberg, an editorial producer at Complex, runs a clothing brand that produces T-shirts, hoodies, and totes with the company’s name embroidered on the items. And on Tuesday, she shared an image on Instagram of a near-exact replica of a white sweatshirt she had produced months before being sold in Forever 21 stores.

The differences between the two pieces are subtle: Oberg’s is of finer quality and features the words “Sporty & Rich” in embroidery whereas the fast-fashion version is a thinner cotton and the phrase “Smart & Pretty” is screen-printed on the left side of the sweatshirt. Forever 21 actually has a long history of blatantly copying fellow mass brands, runway companies, and even Kanye West’s Life of Pablo tour merchandise.

Oberg has no plans to file suit. “My true followers would never buy the fake version and they’ll always be the first ones to show me who is copying and call them out for me,” she told Fashionista. “If [Sporty & Rich] stopped selling out and I started to see the fake designs everywhere, then maybe I’d be worried, but my business is doing just fine.”

While Oberg doesn’t have plans to pursue legal action, her peers, who’ve been victims of similar treatment at the hands of large and powerful retailers, are banding together to do so. After Zara was recently called out by designer and illustrator Tuesday Bassen, whose social media post called out the Spanish brand for using her art without her permission. The site ShopArtTheft.com, which was created by designer Adam J. Kurtz following the outcry, shows how widespread the illegal duping issue is.

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