Photo: Getty Images
A Black fashion designer is speaking out after she says Jeffrey Campbell's knock-off version of her shoes wound up on retail shelves.
According to Diet Prada, Autumn Adeigbo's clog-based, perfect-for-fall Mary Janes were replicated with minor changes and sold to retailers before she could get her bulk order to the US.
Adeigbo launched her brand in 2018 and debuted the original shoe design in the Fall/Winter 2021 collection back in April. The shoes were a part of the LA-based designer's look book and garnered the attention of major fashion outlets including Vogue and WWD.
The shoes reportedly went into production and were due to make it to the US sometime this week. But Jeffrey Campbell released their "Anthropos" style –– a nearly identical copycat of Adeigbo's design with minor material swaps –– that's already available for purchase.
To add insult to injury, Jeffrey Campbell's knock-off were made available for purchase at Nordstrom who is selling Adeigbo's accessories as part of it's Black-Owned Initiative.
Adeigbo is calling out the brand, who just last year made a statement on equity for Black people.
"For an established company like Jeffrey Campbell to knock of a still small, black woman-owned brand, made their 'commitment to black lives and equal future for all' seem like lip service," Adeigbo said.
"They could have asked me for a collab. Why steal my design and 'fast fashion' it into stores before my own production run lands on shelves?"
Check out Jeffrey Campbell's version on the right in the Instagram post below.
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